


Changes

by morethanjustpretty



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-08-14 19:09:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 53
Words: 40,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8025544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morethanjustpretty/pseuds/morethanjustpretty
Summary: The revelation of Jon's true parentage leads the entire Stark family down a different path.  It's an AU story where none of them died.





	1. 1

“I hope you can forgive me, son, ” Ned Stark days solemnly as he eyes the young man.

Jon Snow shifted his feet and kicked at a tuft of mud. It was just enough but also too much to learn all at once.

“He raped my mother? ” Jon asked softly, not meeting Ned’s eyes.

“At the time I thought so, ” Ned explained. “But then I came to understand that it wasn’t the case. They were in love. ”

Jon nodded and said nothing.

“Son….” Ned began.

“But I’m not, am I?” Jon snapped. “All my life. ..all this time I thought I was yours. Never a Stark, but yours. ”

“You are still mine, ” Ned said as he grabbed Jon’s shoulder and forced him to look in his eyes. “I love you as if you were my son. ”

“And Lady Stark?” Jon asked. “Has she known if my true parentage? ”

“No, ” Ned admitted. “I thought when the time came to say, you at least deserved to know before anyone else. ”

“She’s not going to like. ..”

“Cat is not going to like a lot of things, ” Ned said as he scrubbed at his beard.

“Why is now the time to tell me? ” Jon asked as he realized there was even more to this conversation than had already been discussed.

“Because you need to marry before word gets out that you are heir to the Iron throne,” Ned explained. “You need to be secure and with a partner who can help you at King’s Landing”

“Why would word get out? ” Jon asked, surprised.

“Petyr Baelish came upon this information and proof some time ago, ” Ned explained. “And he’s been sitting in it. Ready to use it when he desired to send a threat to Winterfell.”

“Why now? ” Jon asked.

“He’s got a…history with Cat. He lusts for her, but it’s not mutual.”

Jon waited for his father…uncle. ..to continue.

“He’s threatened to expose you if we don’t give into his demands, ” Ned explained.

“And those are? ” Jon asked.

“He wants to marry Sansa,” Ned said quietly.

“He’s old, ” Jon scoffed as he shook his head disgusted. “Sansa was raised to be a Queen not the substitute for her mother. ”

“And not the wife of a brothel owner, ” Ned said through gritted teeth.

“He owns a brothel? ” Jon asked surprised, the situation for Sansa was worsening by the moment.

“Petyr Baelish is likely not the only one who knows your lineage, ” Ned explained. “So rather than deal with his or someone else’s reveal, I think we admit to it now and control the situation as best we can. ”

“And how do we do that? ” Jon asked.

Ned looked up at him and it seemed the next words slipping from his mouth would be the hardest yet.

“You and Sansa are to be married, ” Ned said as he wiped at the corners of his mouth.

“She’s my. ..” Jon gasped about to say ‘sister’ when he realized how untrue those words were.

“Cousin, ” Ned supplied.

“Raised as my sister, ” Jon said vehemently as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Not in years, or like Robb and she, ” Ned explained. “Cat made sure of that. ”

Jon looked at his father. ..uncle and felt someone could have knocked him over with a feather.

“You can’t be serious? ” Jon asked, perplexed.

“Aye, I’m serious, ” Ned said as he wrapped an arm around Jon’s shoulder. “We reveal you as rightful heir after the marriage. You cannot be married off for a political alliance, Sansa, as your wife, secures the North, she is am excellent partner for her political savvy which you’ll need in spades at King’s Landing. ..”

“I have to go to. …?”

“Yes, ” Ned said sadly. “That is where the iron throne and the King reside. ”

“But Father, I don’t want the throne, ” Jon explained. “I want to stay North and…”

“Your lineage demands you take it, ” Ned explained. “Joffrey is a cruel King with no legitimate right to the throne on which he sits. ”

“So we’re going to war against the Lannisters? ” Jon asked.

“I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, but the North will support your claim with our might if needed. ”

“I need to think on this, ” Jon said.

“I’m telling Cat tonight, and we’ll tell the rest of the family tomorrow, ” Ned said as he clapped Jon on the back and turned to leave.

“And Sansa? ” Jon asked.

“Tomorrow night, after the news has sunk in, ” Ned called over his shoulder.

“And if she doesn’t want to marry her bastard brother? ” Jon asked, still trying to process everything.

“She’s your cousin and there’s nothing shameful about it,” Ned said as he stopped and looked at Jon. “And Sansa has been raised to be a Queen….you said it yourself.“


	2. 2

Jon awkwardly sat at the breakfast table and through some horrible twist of fate, Sansa sat across from him. She’d been late arriving and had no choice. Lady Stark looked at him as if he was a puzzle she was trying to solve. Robb spoke to him as usual as did Theon, but Arya kept looking between her parents. The tension between them was palpable and they barely looked at each other, never mind spoke. 

Jon didn’t know what to make of the information father had shared with him last night. If he was Lyanna’s son, then he was still a Stark. If he was Rhegar’s son then he was a Targaryen . What he surmised from all of this was that one thing remained the same; he was still a bastard through and through. Rightful King or not, he was a bastard.

And, as he looked across the table at Sansa buttering her fresh bread, he still had to marry her. Jon chanced a quick glance at Lady Stark and a shiver ran down his spine. If looks could kill, he’d be dead a thousand times over. 

“I have something I want to share with you, ” Father awkwardly began. 

“Ned, maybe not now, ” Lady Stark interrupted. “Cat, the time has come, ” Ned said simply. 

Jon watched all the children look between their parents. He found himself nailed to seat, his eyes downward cast. 

“What is it Father? ” Arya asked. 

“Have you finally accepted Joffrey’s proposal?” Sansa asked, excited. 

“No, my answer stands. You will not be wed to him,” Ned said ending the conjecture. 

A heavy silence fell over the room and not a noise was made. 

“The news is about Jon,” Ned began. 

Jon could feel his father’s eyes on him but he dated not meet them. 

“I could not tell you this until now because not even Jon knew the truth until yesterday, ” Ned continued.

Jon felt all eyes shift toward him. 

“Is this about the Wall?” Theon whispered. 

Jon had wanted to go to The Wall for two years now and Father had refused to allow it. 

“I have kept secret Jon’s true parentage to keep him safe and hidden, ” Ned began. 

Sansa’s eyes went wide and she immediately looked toward her mother. The humiliation of having her father’s lover revealed was a horror. 

“I am not Jon’s Father,” Ned explained. 

Gasps and murmurs were heard around the room. 

“What? !” Robb yelled. 

“Mother, did you know all this time?” Arya asked. 

“Allow me to explain, ” Ned quieted them. “Just over eighteen years ago I was present when my sister Lyanna have birth to Jon and. ..” 

“So Jon’s our cousin? ” Robb asked with a smile. 

Jon finally raised his head and smiled at Robb. 

“Yes, he’s the son of your aunt Lyanna and Rheagar Targaryen ,” Ned said simply. 

“You’re Targaryen?” Sansa asked as she eyed his dark coloring. 

“Apparently, ” Jon sighed.

“Why would you claim Jon as yours? ” Arya asked boldly. 

“To protect him, ” Ned explained.

“Why would Jon need protect. ..?” Sansa started. 

“Because he’s the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, ” Robb said wide-eyed as he looked at Jon. 

Again gasps began around the table and Jon found his plate incredibly interesting. 

“Seven hells, you will be King, ” Robb said joyfully as he clapped his brother in his back. 

“Jon will be King, ” Ned confirmed. 

“If you can defeat the Lannisters, ” Lady Stark finally spoke. 

“We will, ” Ned said confidently.

“Jon, you’re the heir to the throne, ” Robb said happily. 

Jon merely nodded. 

“Were they married? Aunt Lyanna and Rheagar Targaryen?” Sansa asked as Lady Stark smirked. 

“No, ” Lady Stark answered harshly.. 

“Then can a bastard still be. ..” 

“Sansa, why do you have to say that? !” Arya snapped. 

“Children,” Ned said calmly. “Jon is the only living son of Rheagar Targaryen and therefore the heir to the thrown, birth status or not. ”


	3. 3

Jon paced back and forth outside his father’s solar. He was instructed to meet him and Sansa at sunset and had arrived a few minutes early.

“Jon? Why are you here? ” Sansa asked as she too approached the door.

“Father asked to meet with me at sunset, ” Jon explained.

“He asked the same of me, ” Sansa said as she wrinkled her brow. “Why aren’t you inside? ” Sansa asked as she reached for the handle.

Jon quickly placed his hand on top of hers to stop her.

“He’s in there with you’re mother having a discussion, ” Jon said as they both pulled back their hands from the handle.

“Do you know why you’re here? ” Sansa asked.

“Aye, I do, ” Jon sighed.

Sansa crossed her arms over her chest. Her mother had commented that the pose was not ladylike but it was just Jon.

“Am I here for the same reason? ” Sansa queried.

“ You are, ” Jon said, looking her in the eyes.

“But your not going to tell me? ” Sansa asked as she took a step toward him.

“That I am not, ” Jon chuckled.

They stood in silence for a few moments only the torch lighting the darkened hallway.

“I’m sorry about earlier,Jon, ” Sansa said as she looked at him carefully. “I didn’t mean. ..”

“ No apology necessary Sansa,” Jon said nicely. “ I am a bastard in all circumstances. ”

“ Jon, that’s not how I. …” Sansa started but was interrupted by the door opening.

Ned Stark moved to the side to allow them entrance and Catelyn Stark stood glaring by the fire.

Jon caught Sansa’s arm as she stepped forward and quickly whispered in her ear. “You can say ‘no’”.

She turned to look at him with both surprise and confusion on her face before she stepped into the warm room and Jon followed.

“Sansa, ” her father started as she sat down. “Your sixteen and I can’t put off suitors much longer. ”

Sansa practically bounced in her seat. She was going to be married to King Joffrey afterall!

“Petyr Baelish,” Ned began as he watched Sansa’s face fall, “ has made an offer hard to refuse. ”

“The old man who was one of mother’s friends?” Sansa asked as she paled. “What is this offer that has got you sending me to marry him instead of a King?”

“He knows Jon’s lineage and has threatened to reveal it if you don’t marry, ” Ned told her plainly.

Sansa suddenly turned to face Jon. She’d truthfully forgotten he was in the room and now his last words to her in the hall made perfect sense.

“So Jon will be hunted down by the Lannisters if I don’t marry Lord Baelish?” Sansa asked as she felt her stomach sink.

Jon watched his Father smile slightly. His plan, which seemed obvious to Jon, was to make him the better choice as a husband, and so far it was working.

“You’re asking me to save my brothers life? ” Sansa asked as she looked between her parents.

“He’s not your. …” Lady Stark started.

“Cousin, then, ” Sansa corrected herself.

“Actually, I’m not asking that at all, ” Ned said as he sat down next to his daughter and took her hand in his.

Jon found himself shifting uncomfortably by the fire. He crossed the room to the window to look outside so he wouldn’t have to see the revolt on her face when Father told her his real plan.

“I want you to marry Jon,” Ned said kindly. “We will release the information about his lineage after you are wed, and Northern families will march with you to Kings Landing to claim the throne.”

Sansa said nothing for several moments.

“Sansa? ” Ned asked.

“I’m sorry? ” Sansa asked, pulled from her thoughts.

“It will keep you from Baelish and Joffrey, you will secure Jon from marriage offers meant to sway the throne, and I believe, you will be a great advisor to him. ”

Sansa closed her eyes.

“He’s my brother, ” Sansa said simply.

“See?!” Lady Stark snapped from across the room.

“Cat, you never raised them as such, ” Ned barked at his wife. “So now you cannot claim…”

“You can say ‘no’,” Jon said softly, his back still toward the other occupants of the room.

“What do you think of this? ” Sansa asked Jon, turning to face his back.

Jon let out a deep breath and faced the people in the room. His eyes locked on Sansa.

“I mean no disrespect Father, ” Jon started. “Because I do see the easy logic of this match. It solves many problems facing this family but invites more. Are we to war with the Lannisters so I can sit on a throne I’ve just learned is mine? Who, besides yourself, can say that I am the child of Lyanna Stark and Rhegars Targaryen ? And.. ”

“I have several witnesses at your birth that will swear an oath about your lineage,” Ned interrupted. “ And the North will fight for the rightful King, for a Northern King.”

“But you have not satisfied the largest problem, ” Jon sighed as he looked at Sansa. “That is my sister, no matter my true lineage. She is my sister in my eyes and I am her brother in hers. How are we to behave as husband and wife? ”

“Agreed, ” Lady Stark chirped from across the room. “I’m surprised I agree with you, Jon. Ned, this is a ludicrous idea! ”

Sansa sighed and looked at her father. She remembered his words from years ago. 'I will match you with someone who is brave, and gentle and strong.’ Sansa saw some of those characteristics in Jon, she had to trust her father saw the rest.

She looked at Jon and knew he would make a good King, in time, and they would rule well together, finally giving the North a voice at King’s Landing. She thought of slimy Petyr Baelish and a chill ran up her back. Then she thought of Joffrey and knew that he wouldn’t be a good match either, his ego always taking a seat before she did.

“Sansa? ” Ned asked.

“I think we should marry, ” Sansa said as she looked between her parents and saw her mother grab hold of a chair to support herself.

Jon felt as if all the air had been sucked from his lungs. He must be hearing things.

“Sansa, you can’t mean to say. ..” Lady Stark began.

“I think Jon and I will eventually make it work, in our own way, ” Sansa said as she looked at Jon. He looked pale as a ghost.

“That’s my girl! ” Ned said as he pulled her into a fierce hug. “You’ll see that this was a smart match. ”

Sansa watched her father start to bark off plans to her mother for a ceremony that would happen soon under the guise of a harvest banquet. Her mother sat heavily on a chair, unlistening.

Jon walked toward the whisky and poured himself a drink that he swallowed back quickly.


	4. 4

“This is a joke, right? You and father are having a go?” Robb asked Jon as he approached him in the stables.

“Robb…” Jon started as he stopped brushing the horse.

“How you got Sansa to go in on it, I’ll never know,” Robb said nervously.

“I wish it were a jest,” Jon said sadly.

“You wouldn’t lie to me, Jon? Not about this,” Robb said as he grabbed Jon’s shoulder and swiveled it to meet him.

“Father believes…” Jon started.

“That you should wed your sister? Are you sure he’s not a Targaryen?” Robb barked.

Jon smiled sadly at his brother and said nothing.

“You’re going to go through with this lunacy?” Robb asked. “Wed and bed Sansa? Our sister?”

“I plan to wed her,” Jon said honestly. “Father has his reasons and they are sound. But she’s still my sister, Robb, regardless of my blood.”

Although Jon hadn’t said it, his desire to not sleep with Sansa was clear. He would avoid it if he could. 

“So you’ll live chaste and have no bairns?” Robb asked, as the reality of his siblings future sunk in.

“Aye, that’s my plan,” Jon said as he turned to brush the horse again. “And I think Sansa would agree to it. She doesn’t want this anymore than I do.”

Robb sighed heavily and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“It’s not what I want for you both either,” Robb said honestly.

Jon continued to brush as he felt the weight of his brother’s supportive hand on him.

“I was going to vow chastity to the Night’s Watch if father would have ever permitted me,” Jon chuckled. “I guess it’s just a different vow with the same outcome.”

Robb chuckled with him and, after some time, left Jon to his horse.


	5. 5

“Your mother needs you upstairs,” Jon said to Sansa as he approached her in the glass garden.

Sansa turned and smiled.

“What’s your favorite color, Jon?” Sansa asked as she handed him an apple from the tree.

“Color? I’ve always liked green,” Jon asked, confused by her question.

“Green like sage leaves?” Sansa asked as she pointed to the plants. “Or green like a squash?”

Jon looked at her even more confused. Why she was asking such ridiculous questions was unknown to him.

“Green like the bright moss in the caves,” Jon said as he eyed her strangely. “It’s always been my favorite to spot on adventures.”

Sansa smiled and nodded her head.

“Mother wants me to pick flowers for the ceremony,” Sansa said as she walked away from him and farther into the glass garden.

“I think she wants you in her solar from what I gathered from her tone,” Jon said before he took a bite of his apple.

“She’s unhappy,” Sansa said quietly as she looked at the flower plants.

“Yes, she is,” Jon agreed.

“Her daughter’s wedding is supposed to be a time of great pride for a mother, but she feels this is not the case,” Sansa said quietly.

Jon said nothing as he followed her around watching her touch various flowers.

“She wants Candytuft for my flowers, but I cannot agree despite their beauty. They send the wrong message,” Sansa said as she smelled a delicate white flower.

“The message?”

“Indifference,” Sansa said softly.

“Ah,” Jon finally understood.

“I was thinking Cineraria,” Sansa said as she picked up a small pot of bright pink-purple flowers. “They say ‘delight’.”

“Even if it’s not felt, it is a good message,” Jon said quietly.

Sansa looked at him and sighed.

“Sansa, now that we have a moment,” Jon began. “I wanted to talk with you about…well, about actually being wed.”

“I have been raised to know my wifely duties, Jon,” Sansa said as she blushed and started to walk away from him. “I am aware of what is expected and…”

“But, that’s not what I expect,” Jon said as he grabbed her arm to stop her forward motion. “We will be wed, that is right. But I have no intention of taking you to my bed.”

Sansa looked at him confused.

“Sansa, you’re sixteen and still a maid,” Jon started awkwardly.

“Jon, girls in the North marry as soon as they bleed, I’ve been kept a maid for sometime after that.”

“Aye, I know, but you are my sister,” Jon said as he dropped his hand from her arm. “And it’s not right.”

“I am making no argument for you to change your mind,” Sansa said as she faced him squarely. “But I am your cousin, and soon I will be your wife, and one day I wish to be a mother. You will not deny me children.”

Jon looked at her surprised. He thought he’d ease her mind with a chaste union and instead he’d angered her.

“I hadn’t thought…”

“I know that…right away…it could be, awkward,” Sansa said quietly as she looked anywhere but at him. “But eventually it won’t be. Eventually you’ll forget.”

“Is that a promise?” Jon chuckled. “Because right now there’s no way I could forget.”

Sansa laughed with him and finally met his eyes.

“It’s not ideal for either of us,” Sansa said softly as she placed a hand on his chest. “But it is what it is. And we can either make ourselves and each other miserable, or we can choose to be happy.”

Jon covered her hand with his and looked at her seriously.

“And you are choosing to be happy?” He asked.

“I don’t like the alternative,” Sansa smiled at him before she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

Jon closed his eyes at the touch of her lips and thought, for the briefest of moments, that he could be happy.

“Then I choose happy as well, my lady,” Jon said as he offered her an arm to escort her back to her mother’s solar.

“We only have to be us Jon,” Sansa said as they walked. “There’s no timeline on the bedding, and no rules that we have to adhere to. We can make this work however we want.”

“You are a good advisor,” Jon noted.

“I’m sorry?” Sansa asked.

“Father said you would be my best advisor,” Jon smiled at her. “And you are already.”

“I think you need to spend less time brooding and in your own head, and more time saying what you think,” Sansa said as they walked across the godswood.

“Is that advice free?” Jon chuckled.

“I may require payment of a riding lesson,” Sansa said with a smile. “If we are going to Kings Landing I need to be more capable in the saddle.”

Jon nodded. “I would be happy to teach you more.”

“Good, that’s settled. My advice for riding lessons,” Sansa smiled up at him as they entered the courtyard.

“Your advice will only help me,” Jon said with a smile. “My riding lessons will make you sore. I think I got the better half of that deal.”

Sansa laughed at his joke and Jon laughed with her. It wasn’t until they stopped laughing that they noticed Arya and Lady Stark starring at them shocked from the balcony above.


	6. 6

The guests of Winterfell’s Harvest Celebration and those invited from Winter town were slowly funneling into the godswood, confused at the turn of events.

Pages had been instructed to send them to the godswood as soon as they arrived and now groups of them stood about wondering what was going to happen. Jon stood with Robb and Theon to the side, trying to avoid anyone and everyone’s eyes, for he felt his would surely give him away.

“Robb, what is this about?” Tedin Mill asked as he approached their group. “My mother said it must be a wedding.”

“Aye, that it is,” Robb said with a smile. “Jon’s”

“Congratulations Jon,” Tedin said with a smile. “But I thought you wanted the Wall?”

“Father would never allow it,” Jon said simply.

“Did I hear you are to be married?” Suze Gilpin asked the group of them.

“Yes, I am,” Jon said quietly. 

“Who is the lucky lady? Do I know her? Is she from the North?” Suze asked as she leaned into them for more information.

Jon started to shift uncomfortably and Robb took pity on him.

“Father will explain it all momentarily,” Robb said as he looked over people’s heads to see if his father was indeed about the speak. 

Jon didn’t meet Suze’s eyes and looked around for his father. Of all bloody people, Suze Gilpin was the girl who’d let him kiss her and explore her last year. He knew what her breasts felt like and what colour her thatch of hair was down below. He’d not done anything more than grope and kiss, but he didn’t need to have those elicit thoughts in his head at this moment as he presented himself before the old gods.

“Sorry for the mystery everyone, but you’ll understand shortly why our plans for the evening have changed,” Ned yelled above the crowd. “Over eighteen years ago my sister Lyanna gave birth to a healthy baby boy that I promised to protect. I brought him home with me and said he was my son, Jon Snow.”

Gasps were heard around the crowd as well as murmurings. 

“He’ll want you beside him, Jon,” Theon whispered in his ear. “You better go.”

Jon hesitantly stepped past Suze who was staring at him open-mouthed.

“Lord Hutton, can you take over the remainder of the story?” Ned asked an elderly man next to him that Jon had never seen before.

“I was one of the guards for Lyanna Stark while she lived in the Tower of Joy,” Lord Hutton explained. “I was placed there by Rheagers Targaryen. He and Lyanna ran away together and had a child, a boy, Jon Snow.”

Gasps were heard around the godswood and people turned to look for Jon. he was making his way towards his father.

“Robert Baratheon swore he’d kill all the Targaryen’s for stealing Lyanna, but she wasn’t stolen, she went willingly,” Ned continued. “I had to protect Jon, so I named him my son until the time came that he could claim the iron throne.”

The murmurs got louder and louder. When Jon arrived at his Father’s side people were beside themselves. 

“I have the handmaids who helped her birth the babe, and two other witnesses that say their union was not forced and that Jon was the offspring of that union. Jon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne and the North will see to it!” Ned yelled as cheers started loudly around the godswood. “Jon will sit on the Iron Thrown and represent the North!”

Ned wrapped an arm around Jon’s shoulder as cheers grew into a roar in the godswood. It took a long time for them to settle down.

“Now please join me as the rightful heir takes a bride, the Queen that will march with us to Kings Landing and place him on the throne!” Ned yelled.

Another set of boisterous cheers rang out and took a long time to settle down. Ned left Jon’s side and Robb escorted him to a spot before the weirwood tree.

When everything finally quieted, the crowd seemed to part and Ned Stark walked ahead of Sansa Stark into the godswood. She was wearing the most beautiful dress of green Jon had ever seen. It seemed to glow like…the moss in the caves. 

Jon smiled at the realization and Sansa caught his smile and grinned back. She’d had a dress made especially for him, for this day, for this ceremony.

When his Father and Sansa arrived only paces from him Jon spoke.

“Who comes? Who comes before the gods?”

“Sansa of House Stark comes here to be wed. A woman grown and flowered, true born and noble. She comes to beg the blessings of the gods. Who comes to claim her?” Ned Stark said proudly.

“Me,” Jon answered solemnly. “Jon Targaryen of House Targaryen. Heir to the Iron Throne. I claim her. Who gives Sansa Stark?”

“ I, Ned Stark of House Stark, her father, Lord of Winterfell, and Warden of the North.”

Ned Stark then turned to Sansa and asked. “Will you take this man, Jon Targaryen?’

“I take this man,” Sansa said with a solemn expression.

Ned stepped to the side and Jon stepped forward. He took Sansa’s hand in his and walked with her before the weirwood tree where they knelt together and bent their heads. They both prayed for a happy marriage that would be prosperous and long. 

When Sansa squeezed his hand, Jon helped her rise and they turned to the crowd who broke out into cheers and applause.

“To the feast!” Someone yelled and the crowd of whooping and hollering people funneled out of the godswood as quickly as they’d entered.

“You look beautiful,” Jon said softly as he looked at her incandescent against the snow in her green glowing dress, with her red hair and bright pink flowers.

“Thank you, Jon,” Sansa smiled at him. “And you look handsome with your hair tied back.”

Jon self-consciously touched it and she pulled his hand back. 

“Leave it, it’s lovely,” Sansa said softly.

“What are you two mumbling about?” Arya asked snidely as she walked up to them.

“Nothing of importance,” Sansa said quickly.

“You can stop holding her hand now, no one’s looking,” Arya said to Jon as she elbowed him in the ribs.

“Aren’t you headed into the feast?” Sansa asked Arya as her mother approached them.

“I wish you’d worn white,” Lady Stark said as she stood before them. “You look like a harlot with all those colors.”

“Now Mother,” Robb began. “Sansa isn’t a…”

“It’s my favorite color,” Jon supplied, interrupting all talk of his wife being a harlot. “And she looks…stunning.”

Everyone looked at him wide-eyed. Robb cleared his throat. 

“Well, let’s get into the feast, shall we?” Robb asked as he held out his arm to guide them all inside.


	7. 7

“You must away soon before someone gets the notion of bedding you two and...then, gods help us,” Lady Stark said to Sansa as she sat down next to her.

The Harvest Celebration and Wedding had gone incredibly well. All had enjoyed the food, many had enjoyed the drink, and the band had played well.

“We haven’t danced as yet,” Sansa said quietly as she looked about the room for Jon. He had disappeared over an hour ago with her Father and a bunch of Lords and Sansa had not seen him since.

“Forget the bloody dance,” Lady Stark hissed into her ear. “Do you really want to be stripped naked with Jon?” 

Sansa looked at her mother surprised.

“You mean with my husband?” Sansa asked with some bite.

“Sansa you and I both know this is a marriage in name only,” Lady Stark said as she scanned the room for Jon as well. “You don’t need to pretend with me.”

“Mother, you say it’s that sort of marriage, but I don’t agree,” Sansa said as she watched her mother’s face go from angry to shocked.

“Listen to me, and listen well,” Lady Stark said as she leaned in and invaded Sansa’s space. “You are a maid and you will stay one until you are in a proper marriage. Jon may be a Targaryen but he may not be accepted as heir to that Iron throne, and when he’s not, you’ll need to be free of him.”

“Mother!” Sansa cried, shocked by what just came from her mother’s mouth.

“If you are no longer a maid, or if, gods forbid it, you’re pregnant, you’ll be doomed and all of my work will be for naught,” Lady Stark hissed.

Sansa jerked her arm away from her mother and stood from her seat.

“I’m going to pretend I heard none of that, for both our sakes,” Sansa said as she stepped from her seat and went looking for her husband. She couldn’t help the chill that ran through her bones with her mother’s words; she needed to get as far away from her as possible.

“Are you looking for Jon?” Bran asked from his chair.

“Yes, I know he parted with Father but...”

“They wanted to discuss a plan with him,” Bran said as he invited his sister to sit with him. “Robb will have him back soon.”

Sansa looked around the great hall and smiled. Everyone was celebrating them.

“How are you with me and Jon?” Sansa asked, carefully; worried she was going to be admonished again.

“I love Jon, and I love you,” Bran said simply. “It’s going to be weird having you wed, but I’m sure we’ll all get used to it.”

“Thanks Bran,” Sansa said with a smile. “I needed to hear that right now.”

“Mother?” Bran asked, knowingly.

Sansa merely nodded.

Just then Bran pointed over her shoulder. “They’re back.”

Father had his arm wrapped around Jon and they were laughing, whatever planning they had done, had obviously gone well.

Sansa watched Jon look toward her seat and, noticing it empty, scan the room for her. She wasn’t hard to spot with her bright red hair and glowing green dress and when his eyes met hers he smiled.

“So what’s the plan?” Arya asked as she sidled up next to Jon. He moved his eyes from his bride to Arya and sighed. She had been forced to wear a dress and looked incredibly uncomfortable in it.

“It’s not finalized,” Jon said looking down at her. “We’re just in discussions.”

“I’ve asked Father to let me go to Kings Landing with everyone,” Arya admitted. 

“Father won’t allow it, it’s too dangerous,” Jon said as he took a step forward toward where Sansa was sitting with Bran.

“He’s allowing Sansa to go,” Arya whined as she stepped in front of him. 

“Sansa is older than you and she’s my wife, it’s her place to be with me when I take the Iron Throne,” Jon explained as he grabbed Arya by the shoulders and moved her to the side. “And besides, it’s not Father’s decision anymore it’s mine and Sansa’s.”

Jon walked past Arya and heard her mumble something incoherent as he passed. He knew he needed to dance with Sansa for luck, a Northern tradition, before the party broke up. Jon also knew that he was going to steal her away right after the dance to avoid the indignity of the bedding, another Northern Tradition. 

“Can we dance?” Jon asked Sansa as he approached her.

“I know I can,” Sansa joked as she stood. “But you were always a bit hopeless at dance lessons.”

Bran laughed at her joke and Jon jovially cuffed the side of his head before he led Sansa to the dance floor.

Jon took her in his arms and they danced slowly about the floor. 

“Planning?” Sansa asked him with a raised eyebrow.

“Aye,” Jon said as he looked around to see who was near before he spoke. “Some of the Lords have very different ideas about how we should...do this.”

“You mean the Iron Throne?” Sansa clarified.

“Aye, that Throne,” Jon said as he turned her and then brought her back to him.

Sansa noticed several people dancing nearby.

“You’ll need to tell me later,” Sansa said quietly as she nodded to the people around them.

“Have you had a good reception, my Lady?” Jon asked her formally.

“I have for the most part,” Sansa said with a smile. “You left me on my own for quite some time to fend off the marital advice or almost every woman in the Great Hall.”

Jon chuckled when he heard the way she had spent most of the evening.

“And what advice have you been given?”

Sansa laughed and turned red but said nothing.

“I believe there is some sort of rule that you must answer the King when he asks a question,” Jon joked as he egged her on.

Sansa smirked at him and then explained.

“Some simple advice about pickling beets for blood replenishment,” Sansa started.

“Sound advice,” Jon nodded.

“Some advice about dealing with you when you’re drunk,” Sansa continued.

“And how might you do that?”

“Call your squire and sleep in other chambers,” Sansa said with a chuckle.

“Again, sound advice,” Jon nodded before he spun her out again and brought her back to him.

“Advice about how to make a baby that’s a boy,” Sansa said as a flush ran up her neck.

“There’s a way to do that?” Jon asked, honestly surprised and interested.

“Apparently when the moon is waning,” Sansa giggled. 

“We are wolves,” Jon muttered under his breath and then blushed suddenly when he realized what he’s implied.

Sansa’s eyes went wide and she felt as if her heart was going to pound from her chest.

Jon cleared his throat.

“Any sewing or knitting advice?” Jon asked, trying to keep the subject less troublesome.

“Knit and sew often and do tight stitches to keep the air out,” Sansa said, happy for the neutral topic.

“It sounds like you were privy to the wisdom of many women,” Jon said, his throat dry as he felt her breasts brushing up against his chest.

“I was,” Sansa said as she felt his thigh brush against hers.

They danced in silence for what little of the song was left and then Jon leaned in and kissed her on the cheek while he whispered.

“If we’re to avoid the bedding we must leave now,” Jon whispered.

Sansa nodded in understanding and, when he took her hand to lead her away, she followed close behind. Her heart was pounding in her chest at the feel of his body close to hers and the worry of being caught and forced go through with the bedding ceremony.

As they reached the door to the hall Lady Stark handed Sansa a small vial and pushed them out into the dark hallway.

“What was that?” Jon asked as he walked beside her. 

“I don’t know,” Sansa said as she felt the vial in her hands. “I’ll need light to see it.”

Suddenly Jon stopped in his tracks.

“What?” Sansa asked.

“I haven’t a clue where to take you,” Jon said embarrassed.

“Pardon?” Sansa asked.

“Father said a room had been made up for us for tonight but he didn’t tell me where and I forgot to ask,” Jon said chastising himself. “I should go back and...”

“No, they’ll see us come back for sure,” Sansa said as she grabbed Jon’s arm. “Let’s just go to your room.”

“It’s a right mess,” he admitted, embarrassed. 

“Then mine,” Sansa said as she turned and walked down another hall, leading him this time.

She heard his defeated walk behind her; his first act as a husband, to secure living quarters had not happened.

She walked toward her room and Jon opened the door for the two of them to enter. No fire had been started because they weren’t supposed to be there and, although not freezing, the room was not warm either.

“I’ll build the fire,” Jon said as he took in her quarters. Sansa started to light candles around the room one by one and slowly it got a beautiful gold glow.


	8. 8

“I haven’t been in here in years, ” Jon said as he looked about the room after the fire had caught.

“Once you and Robb became 12 you weren’t allowed, ” Sansa explained. “Mother wouldn’t have it. ”

Jon walked over to a shelf and started to finger the trinkets on it. He picked up a carved horse and looked at it carefully.

“Uncle Benjen, ” Jon said as he held it up for her to see. “He used to carve these all the time for us.”

“I guess it occupied his time at the Wall,” Sansa said as she examined the vial her mother had placed in her hand against the light.

“I thought I’d be joining him, ” Jon said wistfully.

“It’s a liquid of some kind, dark, ” Sansa said as she turned the vial between her fingers in front of a candle.

“Let me see, ” Jon said as he walked toward her.

“ Is it a sleeping potion so you don’t take advantage of me? ” Sansa chuckled.

Jon eyed her darkly and took the vial from her fingers. “It’s more likely a poison to kill me so I don’t defile her daughter with my bastard blood. ”

Jon uncorked it and smelled the liquid then he reared back.

“It’s blood, ” He said as he held it out for her to smell.

Sansa leaned in and smelled it as well.

“It is, ” she said perplexed. “Why would she. ..?”

“What? ” Jon asked, confused.

Sansa’s faced went a deep shade of red and she quickly corked the vial and took it from Jon.

“What? ” Jon asked. “Is it witchcraft or. ..?”

Sansa put the vital in her shelf and stood with her back to Jon.

“Sansa?” He asked.

“It’s for the linens in the morning, so it looks like you broke my maidenhead, ” Sansa said, still not facing him.

“Seven hells, ” Jon sighed as he ran his hand across his forehead.

“She wants me to stay a maid, ” Sansa said quietly.

“Aye, ” Jon said.

“She thinks they won’t place you on the throne and I’ll be able to annul the marriage of we haven’t slept together or had a child, ” Sansa said with a cracked voice.

“It does sound like a wise plan, ” Jon said as he walked toward her. He noticed her taking deep breaths. She always did that when she wanted to prevent herself from crying.

“It’s not! ” Sansa snapped as she pivoted to face him.

“Aye, it is, ” Jon said as he took her hands in his. “You’d be wise to bide your time until I got the throne. It’s no guarantee, Sansa. ”

“You’ll get it, ” Sansa said assuredly.

“And if I don’t? ” Jon asked as he wiped at stray tear from her cheek.

“Then I’ll still be your wife, ” Sansa said honestly. “I’m not looking for a way out. ”

“But Sansa. ..” Jon started but was stopped by her whole body pressing up to his and her lips kissing him soundly.

His hands went up on either side of her head and he kissed her back. She pulled his hair out of its leather and ran her fingers through it. Jon dropped his hands down to her breasts and started to knead them through the material. He reached for her ties at the back of her dress and paused.

“We should stop, ” Jon said as he pulled back from her. Both their chests were heaving from excitement. “Sansa, now is the time to stop. ”

Sansa undid the ties in his shirt and pulled open his vest.

“That’s one piece of advice I got this evening that I won’t follow, ” Sansa smirked at him before she divested him of all clothes above his waist.

“Ok, we can have some fun, ” Jon said as he felt her fingers start to work the buttons on his pants. “But we. …I mean to say just because we. …Sansa, you’re making it hard to focus on. ..on. ..”

“Good, ” She smiled at him before his pants dropped to the floor and he was standing before her in nothing but his small clothes.

“Bloody hell, ” Jon sighed before he attacked her mouth .

Sansa felt him undoing her dress and it slowly loosening off her body. She pulled back to release her arms and he pushed it over her hips.

She stood before him in her small clothes and was shocked that she wasn’t the least embarrassed. Jon undid the tie on her top and it fell to the sides revealing the inside edges of her breasts. They were milky white and to him looked perfect.

Sansa leaned in and kissed him again as she felt his coarse chest hair rub against her sensitive skin and his hard cock against her stomach. Jon slowly backed toward her bed and brought her with him.

When the backs of his thighs hit the mattress he broke their kiss.

“It hasn’t gone too far and you’re still a maid. ..” He said looking at her seriously.

In that moment Sansa knew if she had told him to stop he would have. Despite his hard cock, their half clothed bodies, what they’d already done, and it being their wedding night.

“I want to be your wife, ” Sansa said seriously as she placed a hand over his thumping heart. “I want to enjoy my wedding night and be happy. ” 

Jon leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her passionately.


	9. 9

Jon woke in a tangle of limbs that all belonged to Sansa. She was on him, around him and underneath him all at the same time. He wasn’t sure if he’d found heaven but it was fairly close.

He could feel her breasts squashed up against his chest, her hand under his back, and her one leg hooked around his knee. He had enjoyed his wife last night, but the one thing he’d not done was take her maidenhead.

When the time came, and it came several times during the night, he just couldn’t take away her chance to change her mind. He feared she was too caught in the moment, in her anger with her mother, or her need to please, to make the right choice. So he stopped things from going that far.

He’d worked her with his mouth and his fingers and brought her to ecstasy but he had not penetrated her with his cock. And she had satisfied him with her hands instead of her peach. They had done more to each other than he’d thought would ever happen and that, in itself, was fulfilling.

Just as Jon was rejoicing in his luck the door to Sansa’s chambers opened and her mother marched in talking to Arya.

“Sansa has enough dresses, you should just keep it," Lady Stark said as she walked to the wardrobe in the corner.

"I have enough dresses too, ” Arya whined.

Jon was afraid to move or speak. They hadn’t expected or spotted him or Sansa yet and he hoped it would stay as such.

“You don’t have any dresses, ” Lady Stark chastised.

“Exactly. Enough, ” Arya crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window as her mother hung the dress.

It was then that Sansa shifted slightly and murmured. Jon tried to stop any further movement or sound.

“What? ” Sansa mumbled.

“Oh gods!” Lady Stark screamed.

“Jon! Sansa!” Arya yelled.

“Seven hells, ” Jon groaned as Sansa rolled off him and sat up covering herself with a fur.

“You just walk in? ” Sansa snapped.

“Why are you. …naked? ” Lady Stark asked, overwhelmed.

“And here? ” Arya asked as she walked toward the bed annoyed. “With Jon? ”

“We didn’t know which room was prepared, ” Sansa explained as Jon avoided Arya’s eyes by covering his. “ Now, please leave us. ”

“I thought it was just in name, ” Arya said confused.

“Out! ” Sansa yelled.

“You are a stupid girl, ” Lady Stark said pointedly as she waggled her finger at Sansa.

“Please leave, ” Sansa said forcefully.

Lady Stark grabbed Arya by the arm and dragged her from the room.

The door slammed behind them and Sansa flopped back on the bed next to Jon.

“Blasted,” she sighed.

“Sansa, you have to explain, ” Jon said as he took her hand.

As it came out of his mouth he realized how ridiculous it was. What would she explain? That he had known every inch of her body and she his. That he had given her the King’s kiss, suckled her nipples and she had worked his cock but they were still innocent? They weren’t, not in any realm.

“Let’s just hide in here for the rest of our days, ” Sansa said quietly as she stared at the ceiling.

“I’m game, ” Jon answered as he squeezed her hand in his.


	10. 10

To say that Catelyn and Arya start had thrown cold water over their happy nuptial night would be an understatement. Jon rose from bed not long afterwards and went in search of his Father, or uncle as it would be, and take whatever blows would come his way. Sansa, had decided to pretend as if nothing was amiss as she went into the Hall for breakfast.

Sansa walked into the Hall and saw her mother, Arya, and Bran sitting at breakfast, the remainder of the house seemed to be missing. She faltered only once in her step when her mother looked up and glared at her, but otherwise was the picture of poise.

“I can’t believe you have the nerve to show up now,” Arya snapped as soon as she saw Sansa.

“Why?” Bran asked confused. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Catelyn harshly snapped.

“It’s still my home,” Sansa said as she glared at Arya.

“Not for long! She took advantage of Jon,” Arya continued.”Father will…”

“That’s enough!” Catelyn snapped again. “I won’t have…”

“Took advantage?” Bran asked.

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Sansa said as she marched toward the table at which they all sat.

“She opened her legs to OUR brother and he, like any man, couldn’t deny…”

“Stop at once!” Catelyn snapped as she turned and slapped Arya across the face.

The look of betrayal on Arya’s face was quick to form and quick to recover.

“But, Mother, we saw them…” Arya said as she launched herself from her chair next to her mother. Sansa wasn’t sure if it was out of slapping range or a need to assert herself even more.

“Please tell cook I’ll eat in my room,” Sansa said turning on her heel; breakfast had been a bad idea.

“Sit down both of you!” Catelyn screamed as she balled her hands into fists.

Sansa, alarmed, turned to face her mother. “I won’t sit if I am to be raked over…”

“There will be no raking,” Catelyn said as she gritted her teeth. “Arya! Sit!” 

Sansa looked at her mother as if she was a candle about to burst into flames. She carefully walked to the seat at the end of the table next to Bran and pulled out a chair. Arya sat next to her mother and everyone began to eat. The silence in the room was like a weight on her chest and surprisingly, when Bran coughed, it was like a tiny crack of normalcy came back to the room.

“Can I leave now?” Arya snapped as she put down an empty cup.

“Yes,” Catelyn said, the annoyance in her voice was clear.

“I’m done as well, Mother,” Bran indicated.

“I’ll get Sodor,” Catelyn said as she rose from the table to go to the kitchens where Bran’s companion was eating.

Sansa ate quietly next to Bran. She felt his eyes on her, studying and possibly condemning her.

“For what it’s worth, isn’t that what all brides and grooms do on their wedding night?” Bran asked her conversationally.

Sansa looked sideways at him shocked. “It is.”

“Then why are they so surprised?” Bran asked; his innocence was heart-warming.

“I guess they expected better of us,” Sansa said quietly.

“But…” Bran started then stopped as his mother and Hodor walked into the room. 

“Thank you Sodor,” Catelyn said as she watched the large man pick up her son. “A walk in the woods?”

“I think so,” Bran smiled as Hodor walked him away.

When they were alone in the room the silence was palpable. Sansa continued to eat and hoped her mother would leave.

“So the vial wasn’t needed after all,” Catelyn started almost reflectively. “I hope he wasn’t rough with you or…”

“I did need the vial,” Sansa said with force. “Because your idea of everything, your opinion of Jon, is completely wrong, Mother!”

“What?” Catelyn asked, completely baffled.

“It’s only because of that man you call a bastard, that your daughter is still a maid today, I would have let him have me a thousand times over, but he resisted, that horrible, horrible man!”

“I don’t…”

“Of course you don’t,” Sansa huffed. “You need to start giving Jon, my husband, more respect and credit because he’s the most honorable man besides Father you will ever encounter!”

“Sansa, you’re still…?”

“I am, but if I have my way, it won’t be for long,” Sansa said as she dropped her linen on the table and stood from her seat. 

She walked past her mother without even glancing at her and went to find Jon, she hoped Father hadn’t beaten him to a pulp.


	11. 11

Jon stood watching his father in the stables for a long time before he spoke. He knew he had disapointed the man and wanted to live a few more minutes in a world where he didn’t. He had disappointed his Father many times before, but none as serious as this one. Jon hoped he could be forgiven, one day.

“Father,” Jon called his voice cracking, despite himself.

Ned Stark turned and appraised Jon with his eyes.

“I’m surprised you are up,” Ned said with no hint of…anything in his voice.

“I came to speak with you,” Jon said as he took a tentative step forward. 

Ned nodded and said nothing in return. He turned to the horse he was examining and continued to feel it’s hind leg.

Jon walked toward his father and said nothing for a long time while Ned examined the horse. 

“I wanted to talk with you about Sansa,” Jon said bravely, standing up a little straighter.

Ned said nothing for a long beat.

“Feel this joint,” he said to Jon as he hunched down. 

Jon bent down next to his father and the horse and felt the joint indicated.

“Torn?” Jon asked as he felt the braided muscles under the skin

“I think so too,” Ned said as he nodded in agreement then stood up.

Jon stood up with his Father and realized, with great clarity, how much bigger Ned Stark was compared to him.

Ned walked out of the horse’s stall and indicated to Jon to join him.

“Cat was bursting with fire this morning,” Ned said solemnly.

“She was,” Jon said in agreement.

“She came into our chanbers where I was still a bed and told me the entire tale,” Ned said as he glanced sideways at Jon.

Jon swallowed hard and nodded. He wondered if this was where his Father beat him to a pulp.

“Is that what you’ve come to speak with me about?” Ned asked.

Jon nodded slowly.

“Jon, have I ever interfered with a man and his wife where there wasn’t any sort of abuse?” Ned asked.

“Not that I know of,” Jon said softly.

“Are you telling me that you abused your wife, my daughter?” Ned asked as he walked into the courtyard with Jon.

“No sir, I am not,” Jon said, confused.

“Then it is none of my business what happens with agreement between a man and his wife,” Ned said as he clapped Jon on the shoulder. 

“But Father,” Jon started.

“I know Cat had her notions, but I am not as naive as she, neither are you, or Sansa for that matter,” Ned said as he smiled down at Jon.

“So you are fine with…?” Jon asked, still not believing his ears.

“You are her husband and she is your wife,” Ned said with a smile. “I expect you will do what all husband’s and wives do, including argue. And if there is any sort of abuse, then I will become involved.”

“There would never…I could never…” Jon stammered.

“I know, Jon,” Ned smiled down at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“But if I could give you one piece of advice?” Ned asked with a smirk.

“Anything, Father,” Jon said eagerly.

“Many in this house will have trouble adjusting to how things have changed between you and Sansa, it’s best to keep everything less public for a time,” Ned said as he spotted his daughter walking into the Courtyard.

“Of course,” Jon nodded before he smiled at his wife.


	12. 12

“Good morning,Father,” Sansa said tentively as she approached the smiling pair. 

“Good morning,Sansa,” Ned said as he walked toward his daughter and kissed her on the forehead.

“Things are…well?” Sansa asked.

“Saffy has pulled a muscle quite severely,” Ned said thoughtfully. “I’ll need to call on Blakely this afternoon to have a look at her. ”

“That’s awful,” Sansa said honestly.

“Trouble is,” Ned continued. “I’m meeting with some tenants after lunch and…”

“I can go, Father,” Jon offered eagerly.

Ned turned to him, surprised. “Are you sure, son?”

“Of course,” Jon said. “I can go straight away. ”

“I can go with you,” Sansa offered.

“Sansa I don’t think…”

“I’ll leave you to sort the details, but Blakely won’t be ready to deal with Saffy until after lunch when I think of all he drank last night,” Ned said as he clapped Jon on the shoulder. “If he thinks she’s done, I’ll have to be alright with that. But if he can save her, that I’d prefer. ”

Ned walked away from the pair and into the house.

“I’d like to come,” Sansa said. “I can help. ”

Jon sighed and nodded his head in agreement.

“I have expected to have to tend your wounds,” Sansa said quietly as she leaned into Jon.

“No Father said as long as what happened between us was amicable then he had no place to speak,” Jon explained. “I was quite surprised myself. ”

“I wish Arya had that attitude,” Sansa said quietly. “She claims I took advantage of you. ”

Jon laughed heartily. “She what?”

“She loves you so much, and thinks me an evil sorceress who…”

“Sounds like it was quite the row,” Jon said as he wrinkled his forehead.

“It was a rude awakening to my sister’s opinion of me and my mother’s opinion of you at breakfast this morning,” Sansa explained.

“Well, your mother probably thinks I’m the bastard that forced himself on her innocent daughter,” Jon sighed.

“Close,” Sansa explained.

Jon nodded.

“I told her I was still a maid,” Sansa explained.

“She probably didn’t believe you,” Jon groaned.

“I told her she had only you to thank for my maidenhead, because I would have given myself to you many a time,” Sansa explained.

Jon allowed a brief smile to wash over his face. “I’m sure she appreciated that bit. ”

Sansa laughed.

“And I told her, if I had my way I wouldn’t be a maid for long,” Sansa declared.

Jon swallowed audibly.

“I do mean it,Jon,” Sansa said as she leaned in and kissed his lips. “Tonight. ”

He kissed her back and nodded in agreement.


	13. 13

“He’s pickled,” Jon said of Blakely who was still sleeping in his bed.

He’d gone inside after banging on the door to the small hut for quiet some time and discovered that the hosreman had taken to his cups again today and was in no shape to tend to Saffy.

“Saffy can’t do the return,” Sansa said as she looked toward the horse who was breathing heavily.

“No, she can’t,” Jon said as he looked about the small village of Shuk trying to figure out what to do. “I can settle her in Blakely’s stables...”

“Jon, she can’t be left,” Sansa said as she patted the horse’s mane. “Look at how she favors the leg.”

Jon looked at the horse and knew she was right. Saffy needed tending to whether it was Blakely or him.

“Perhaps I can get a stable boy to watch her while I ride you back and then return,” Jon said as he looked about for Blakely’s boys.

“Jon, it’ll be dark by the time we reach Winterfell, to turn back...” Sansa said thoughtfully.

Jon groaned and ran his hand through his hair. He would need to find lodgings for her for the night and he would stay in the stables and tend to the horse. No one would refuse the rightful heir to the Iron Throne a room for his wife, except possibly Sansa.

“The Dwinnel’s will have room for you, they live here,” Jon said as he patted Saffy on the head and went to tie up his own horse.

“For me?” Sansa asked.

“I’ll be staying in the stables with Saffy to care for her until Blakely comes out of his fog,” Jon explained. “You, my Lady, will stay in a proper room.”

“Jon, I can...”

“I insist,” Jon said before he walked away from her towards a small cottage about 100 yards away.

Sansa watered and fed Saffy while she waited for Jon to return. She didn’t see why they both couldn’t care for the horse and retire to a bed while a stable boy took over for the night. But then she remebered that Saffy was Bran’s horse, the horse he was meant to ride, and she knew Jon would never sacrifice Saffy for his own comfort. 

“They’re happy to have you,” Jon said when he returned to her. “They’ve even offered their eldest to watch Saffy so we can join them for dinner.”

“How lovely,” Sansa smiled. 

“Let me get some ice on Saffy’s leg,” Jon said as he walked past her. “We’ll join them when Jergen comes.”

Sansa smiled at Jon as he cared for Saffy. Tonight was definately not going to be the night she’d hoped for.


	14. 14

Jergen Dwinnel showed up a short time later and Jon, after giving him instructions, escorted Sansa to the Dwinnel house.

The Dwinnel’s were old friends of Winterfell and Sansa had a vague memory of kissing their eldest son Ruse on a dare. One she recalls may have been instigated by Jon and Robb.

“This soup is delicious Mary,” Sansa said as she dipped her bread in it.

Jon had been talking politics with Ruse and Puel Dwinnel almost the entire meal. 

“It’s a salted squash, my Lady,” Mary explained. “It gives it a different flavor.”

“I quite love it,” Sansa smiled at her. “I’ll have to get the recipe for Cook.”

Mary smiled at the woman that would be Queen, honoured she was so pleased with their meagre meal

“You have lovely hair,” Massa, their five year old daughter, said as she reached for a lock.

“Massa, leave the Queen be!” Mary snapped at her daughter.

“No, it’s fine,” Sansa smiled at the little girl. “Perhaps after the soup you’ll let me braid your hair?”

Massa clapped enthusiastically. “Oh yes, please!”

“It’s settled then,” Sansa said as she cupped the girl’s cheek.

“And the Lannister army?” Puel asked Jon, interesested.

“We’ll be taking an army from the North,” Jon said as he eyed the men. “Northern men are a much heartier stock and will put fear into the pretty Lannister army.”

Ruse and Puel laughed at his analogy.

“Would you agree Lady Sansa?” Puel asked, “You have seen the Lannister army, have you not?”

“I would agree that Northern men are stronger, quicker and more ready for battle than any army,” Sansa said. “Norhern men love the North and will fight for it with every breath they take. The Lannister army has no love for them. They are merely purchsed.”

Jon laughed at her last line and took her hand.

“Very true!” He said jovially.

The other men raised their glasses and took a hearty drink.

“I must be off,” Jon said as he stood from the table. “Thank you for the lovely meal Mary and for harbouring my wife for the night.”

“We are honoured your majesty,” Puel said as he stood and bowed his head. “Jergen would be happy...”

“I could relieve him...” Ruse offered.

“No, it’s Bran’s horse and my responsibility,” Jon said thoughtfully as he gave Sansa a tight-lipped smile.

Sansa nodded in understanding.

She walked Jon outside after some bread and a flask of ale was pressed into his hand by Mary.

“I forgot how lovely they are,” Sansa said with a smile.

“I see Ruse often in the Village doing trade for his family,” Jon said as he pulled her cloak up a little higher on her shoulder.

“Your not going to dare him to kiss me again, are you?” Sansa asked flirtatiously.

“I hadn’t realized you remembered,” Jon said as he looked toward his feet and rubbed at his beard.

“I remembered,” Sansa said as she leaned into his frame.

“Do you want me to dare him?” Jon asked coyly.

The shock on Sansa’s face made him burst into laughter.

“I’m kidding,” Jon said.

“Keep up those words and I won’t let you kiss me anymore,” Sansa said flirtatiously.

“Not even where you like?” Jon asked in a whisper as he raised an eyebrow.

Sansa looked at him thoughtfully. “Maybe just there.”

Jon chuckled at her comeback and leaned in to kiss her soundly on the lips.

“Have a good sleep, my Lady,” he said before he backed away from her.

“You too, Jon,” Sansa said softly as she watched him walk away.

Then he stopped about ten yards from her and turned to face her again.

“You need to go inside so I know you are safe,” Jon nodded towards the door.

“Yes, my King,” Sansa said sarcastically before she turned around and went inside.


	15. 15

“Who goes there?” Jon asked as he drew his sword.

It was the middle of the night and he’d slept for a couple of hours only. Someone was wakling into the barn with a lantern.

“Jon, it’s just me,” Sansa said as she rounded the corner in the stables.

“Sansa, why are you out in the middle of the god-forsaken night?” Jon asked as he walked toward the glowing shadow that was his wife. “Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Sansa said as she hung the lantern on a hook. “How’s Saffy?”

“You need to go back to the Dwinnels,” Jon said as he reached for the lantern and her arm.

“I will, but I wanted to check on you and Saffy first,” Sansa said as she pulled away from him and walked toward the horse.

“Ladies should not be wandering in the night alone,” Jon chastized her.

“Yes, because there’s a mercenary in the blacksmith shop,” Sansa said sarcastically.

“There are robbers, gypsies, drunken men…” Jon warned.

Sansa turned and looked at him surprised.

“I can’t have you in danger,” Jon said softly as he approached her.

“I’m with you,” Sansa said quietly as she turned to face him.

Jon smiled at her and ducked his head.

“Is that a dangerous place to be?” Sansa asked, coyly.

“Dangerous in some ways,” Jon conceded.

Sansa smiled at him. “I’ll take my chances.”

“Sansa…” Jon started.

“How’s Saffy?” She asked as she looked at the horse’s leg.

“Fine, needs extra attention and water, but she’s stayed calm,” Jon said as he patted the horse’s mane.

Sansa nodded and patted the horse as well before she turned to him.

“And you?” 

“I’d rather be in a bed,” Jon said truthfully. “I haven’t slept in a stable since I was a lad.”

“Are you warm enough?” Sansa asked as she looked at the pile of blankets.

“Aye, I’d be surprised if the Dwinnel’s had a blanket between them, she insisted on so many,” Jon said as he gestured toward the pile.

Sansa laughed at his joke and touched his arm.

“Are you okay…after Father?” Sansa asked.

“Aye,” Jon said as he closed his eyes. “He made me feel better.”

Sansa leaned in and kissed his lips. Surprised, he jerked back, looked at her a moment and then leaned forward to capture her mouth. His lips rolled over hers with a familiar touch that surprised her as they had only had one night of kissing.

“You learn fast,” Sansa said breathlessly as she pullde away. “I don’t remember you being this quick with your lessons.”

“My lessons were not nearly as interesting,” Jon smiled against her mouth.

Sansa smiled back and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her body flush with his.

“So, show me what you know,” she said with a glint of a smile.

Jon went to lean in and then stopped and placed his forehead on her shoulder.

“Jon?” Sansa asked, worried.

“I need to walk you back,” Jon groaned as he reached around the back of his neck and disengaged her hands. He then stepped back and away from her.

“But…”

“It should be in a proper bed, not a barn,” Jon said as he looked away from her and ran his hand through his hair.

“Jon, I don’t car…” Sansa started.

“No, but I do,” he said as he looked toward her and stood up straight and tall.

Sansa looked at him and knew the decision had been made. She nodded and said nothing.

He took her hand in his, grabbed the lantern and started to walk her back to the Dwinnel’s cottage.

“Jon,” Sansa whispered as they walked.

“Yes, Sansa?” 

“How many women have you been with?” Sansa asked, suddenly realizing how he may know so much about kissing and other things.

He faltered his walk for a moment and then continued forward.

“Have I…?” Sansa asked, suddenly aware she may have no right to know.

“No, it’s fine,” Jon whispered back as they walked across the square.

He walked a few more paces before he stopped and turned to look at her seriously.

“This the part where I’m supposed to say that I’ve been with plenty women and am an experienced man who you can feel safe with, but…”

“But?” Sansa asked.

“Truthfully?” Jon asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I want there to be nothing but truth between us, Jon, but if you prefer…”

“You’ll be my first,” Jon said as he met her eyes. There was a look of embarrasment across his face.

“You mean you haven’t…?” Sansa asked.

“No,” Jon said quietly. “I’m sorry if that lessens me in your…”

“It does no such thing,” Sansa smiled as she cupped his cheek. “I know that Theon and Robb have visited…and so I assumed…”

“I’ve gone with them to the brothel,” Jon admitted. “But I’ve only waited for them.”

“Oh,” Sansa said surprised. “Why haven’t you bedded a woman?”

Jon rubbed his chin and looked away from her, obviously embarassed.

“This is the part where I say the whores were dirty and…”

“But the truth?” Sansa whispered.

“Two reasons: I didn’t want to get a bastard on any woman, whore or not.” Jon said as he looked anywhere but at her.

“And the second?” Sansa asked, intrigued.

Jon looked at her and sighed. “I was waiting for the right woman.”


	16. 16

Sansa and Jon happily rode to Winterfell discussing all manner of things. Jon told her about his dealings in Wintertown and neighborouring villages on behalf of their Father, and Sansa told Jon about King’s Landing where she had lived for a few months.

It was an amicable conversation and one that erupted into fits of laughter several times. They stopped and ate a picnic lunch that Mrs Dwinnel had kindly provided by a stream and sat for a long time talking when they should have been riding.

Night was catching up to them and they needed a faster pace if they were to get back to Winterfell not too late. Saffy had stayed with Blakely and Ruse had promised to check on her until she’d healed and could be collected. It was during this gallop home that Sansa’s horse threw a shoe.

“I’ll have to walk him the rest of the way,” Jon said as he looked at the hoof.

“It’ll be the middle of the night by the time we get back,” Sansa sighed as she looked around at the barren landscape.

“He can’t bear the weight,” Jon said as he stood and wiped off his trousers. “He can walk it but not ride it.”

“Can we ride double? It’s not much farther,” Sansa noted Winterfell in the distance.

“Aye Peg could bear both of us for what remains, but the journey will still have to be slow for the sake of Knight,” Jon said as he eyed his horse. “I’ll walk Knight for a bit and when it gets dark we’ll ride Peg together.”

Sansa nodded and he helped her mount Peg.

“She’ll try and gallop but you need to hold her,” Jon said as he handed her the reigns. 

Jon dropped Knight’s saddle onto the ground and covered it with leaves under a tree where he would retrieve it in the morning. Then he started the slow walk towards Winterfell with Sansa on his horse. The conversation faded as the night progressed and the air chilled. Sansa trotted at a slow pace while he walked with Knight behind her.

She’d been bothering him for miles to just ride with her, but, as Jon’s legs tired and he dreamed of being home in bed, he finally relented. He eased Peg’s saddle off her body and again hid it under a tree with leaves to cover. Jon tied Knight to Peg and mounted Peg bareback reaching out for Sansa to take his hand and sit in front of him.

He had to admit, it was warmer with her body close to his. His arms wrapped around her to hold the reigns and her breasts rubbed against his forearms as her ass nudged against his hardening cock. She hummed to herself, or possibly him as they made the slow journey and Jon could feel the reverberations from her back to his chest. It was almost as if they were one.. 

“They’ll be worried,” Sansa said softly as they approached the gate.

“I sent word we were staying the night but now another has come upon Winterfell and we aren’t in it’s gates,” Jon sighed as he banged on the gate that had been shut many hours ago.

A cold chill passed over Sansa’s body and she snuggled back into Jon’s form while they waited for admittance. He wrapped a strong arm around her and nuzzled her hair.

‘Sansa..” he started.

“Who goes there?!” Clarence’s voice rang out.

“It’s Jon and Sansa!” Jon called back. “We’re late because Knight threw a shoe.”

Immediately the gate started to creak open and old Clarence was revealed to them.

“Everyone has been worried, Robb and Lord Stark…” Clarence began.

“Thank gods!” They heard the voice of Ned Stark boom across the courtyard.

“They’re all still up,” Clarence said candidly.

"I see that," Jon sighed as he looked up to see their entire family looking down upon them from the balcony. 

And what a sight it must have been; he and Sansa coming home rumpled in the dead of night, riding double without a saddle. 

"Robb and I were going to head a search at first light," Ned explained as they all started down the stairs and toward them. 

"Knight threw a shoe," Jon said as he dismounted and then helped Sansa do the same. 

"Well, at least you're safe," Catelyn said to her daughter as she approached them. 

"Glad to have you home," Robb said as he shook Jon's hand and took the reigns from him. 

"Thanks, Robb," Jon smiled at him. 

"You smell like a stable," Arya mumbled to Jon. 

"It's where I slept last night," Jon chuckled. “Sansa boarded with the Dwinnel’s and I stayed with Saffy.”

“Is Saffy alright?” Bran asked from atop Hodor’s back.

“She’ll be fine, Bran,” Sansa said as she patted his knee. “She just needs Blakely’s expert hand.”

“The saddles?” Theon asked.

“Under the tree by the craigy rocks near the Snoot Cottage and the yellow leaf one on the distant hill before the road to Highview,” Jon explained. “I’ll go tomorrow and...”

“Theon, can get them,” Ned said as he clapped Jon on the back. “After the journey you’ve had you deserve a rest.”

“Thank you,” Jon said as he felt Sansa’s hand slip into his.

“You have leaves in your hair,” Arya said as she picked one out of Sansa’s hair. “You never have anything in your hair that isn’t supposed to...”

“Well, that’s enough excitement for one night,” Catelyn Stark said as she threaded her arm through Sansa’s and started to pull her away. 

“You smell like a stable too,” Arya said with disdain to Sansa as the woman walked away.

Theon very loudly cleared his throat and gave Jon a knowing grin, as if to imply he knew exactly why they were late, they both smelled of stable, and Sansa had leaves stuck in her hair.

“Let’s get these horses settled for the night,” Jon said as he took Knight’s reigns.

"Glad I'm not you," Robb chuckled awkwardly. "Sleeping in a stable, throwing a shoe, and Sansa traveling in the cold at night..." 

"She was great," Jon said quietly. 

"Sure she was," Robb chuckled as he watched a servant wrap furs around his sister. 

“I bet it was warmer on the horse together,” Theon said greasily.

Jon chose to ignore the comment and focused on Robb.

"Robb, I can complain about the stable and the shoe, but I can't complain about Sansa," Jon said seriously. 

"Because Father will have your hide?" Robb laughed with Theon.

Jon stopped tying Knight up and looked at his brother seriously. 

"She's my wife," Jon said. "I enjoy her company. " 

Robb looked at him surprised. 

"You can't speak of her as if she's an annoying child," Jon explained. 

"Fine," Robb nodded. 

They worked in silence watering the horses and preparing the stalls. A chill had dropped over the group because Jon refused to make fun of his wife with his brother as he always had before. 

"My Lord?" A servant asked as he walked into the stables. 

"Yes?" Robb and Jon answered at once. 

The servant looked between the two men and eventually went to stand before Jon. 

"Lady Sansa has instructed me to escort you to your room; there's a new location and she waits for you there," He explained. 

"Thank you," Jon said nervously. "I'm almost finished. " 

"You're not staying in your own rooms?" Robb asked, curious. 

"Apparently not," Jon mumbled. 

"But I thought the wedding night was just for show...?" Robb asked, bothered.

Jon looked at his brother surprised. Apparently, Lady Stark and Arya hadn't spoken to Robb about what they had witnessed. 

“It doesn’t look like a show anymore,” Theon mumbled.

"I better go," Jon said as he turned to leave. 

Jon followed the servant across the courtyard and to what would be their new room at Winterfell. He reminded himself, as he mounted the stairs, to lock the door before retiring to bed.


	17. 17

Sansa sat in her bath and sighed. It felt good to be warm and clean once again and home. As much as she liked the journey with Jon, Sansa disliked sleeping on the road. She would have to get used to it if they were to ride to King’s Landing.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Catelyn Stark said to her daughter as she walked into the room. “You feel better?”

“Much,” Sansa said as she washed her arm.

“I will send Jon to his old rooms so...”

“I’ve already sent for him to come here,” Sansa said as she looked at her mother, surprised.

“Surely, you are not going to bed the lad to punish me,” Catelyn snapped at her daughter.

“And who’s to say I haven’t already?” Sansa asked.

“That he was still able to meet my eyes when you came home tonight, told me well enough you were still a maid,” Catelyn said harshly. “And you should keep it as such. He seems to want to do the honourable thing, and you should allow it.”

“Not sleep with my husband?” Sansa snapped.

“Sansa, you can do other things...things that will bring you both pleasure without sacrifing...”

“I know those things mother,” Sansa said as she met her eyes. “And when you and Arya found me on my wedding morning you knew full well we both knew those things.”

Catelyn Stark closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“A bastard that was brought into this house has more sense then my own highborn daughter,” Catelyn said calmly but with edge. “If you want to bed him and throw away your life, so be it. But don’t come to me begging for forgiveness when this all crumbles in on you and you are left with a dead husband, babes, and no title.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Sansa said assuredly.

“Won’t it?” Catelyn asked as she stood from her stool.

“And I will bed my husband because I want to, and because I am his wife,” Sansa said clearly. “Although you think everything I do is connected to you, it is not, mother. Jon and I have nothing to do with you.”

“Fine,” Catelyn said as she turned to leave the room.

Sansa sunk back into the cooling water and silently cursed her mother for tainting everything that was good. 

Catelyn walked from their dressing room to their bedroom and out into the hall, cursing her daughter for being stupid enough to not see the larger game.

She was so intent on her thoughts she almost bumped into Jon.

“I’m sorry Lady Stark,” Jon said as he caught her before she fell.

“You’re going to your new rooms?” Lady Stark asked as she eyed the servant.

“Yes, I was told they were up here,” Jon said quietly.

“You are dismissed,” Catelyn Stark said to the servant who quickly retreated.

“They are,” Lady Stark said as she walked back down the hall and past the room she’d just exited. “Sansa is just gathering some things from her room.”

Jon nodded and watched her open a door and escort him inside a small room.

“Thank you, Lady Stark,” Jon said as he eyed the room that didn’t seem prepared at all for them.

“I’ll send a boy to light the...”

“I can do it myself,” Jon said kindly.

“I’ll...”Catelyn said as she looked around the room. “Send up some water and linens for washing.”

“Thank you,” Jon nodded.

Catelyn nodded and walked back towards the door. “Have a good rest.”

“You as well,” Jon said as he watched the door to the room he was in shut.

He looked about the small room and realized either Father had no idea how small the room was they’d been given, or this was completely the wrong room.

Jon took off his clothes and climbed into the bed in his braies to rest his head and think about the situation while he waited for the water and linens to arrive. He was so exhausted, that the moment he closed his eyes he was asleep.


	18. 18

Sansa had drifted off to sleep as she waited for Jon in their bed. When she woke in the early hours of the morning she realized he hadn’t been to bed all night. Confused and worried she rose from their bed, put on her robe and went in search of her husband.

She asked several servants and none had seen him. Then, as she rounded a corner she almost bumped into Theon.

“Have you seen Jon?” Sansa asked him.

“Last night when we were stabbling the horses,” Theon said confused. “A servant arrived to take him to your bed.”

Sansa narrowed her eyes at his impertinent comment.

“And he left with the servant?” Sansa asked.

“Eagerly,” Theon replied with a smirk. “You have been married only a few days afterall, my Lady. I’m surprised we see either of you.”

“Thank you for all of your help, Theon,” Sansa said sarcastically as she pushed past him.

“If I see him shall I send him to your bed?” Theon called after her.

Sansa ignored him and continued forward. 

She searched the Great Hall where no one was yet to sit for breakfast and finally came upon the young man she’d asked to escort Jon upstairs.

“You brought him to the room I indicated?” Sansa asked confused.

“I brought him to the hallway and then the Lady of the House escorted him to the room, I was dismissed,” the servant explained.

Sansa growled low in her throat, she knew exactly what had happened.

“Thank you,” Sansa said as she turned on her heel and went back to where her new rooms were.

She looked down the hallway.

Robb’s rooms were at the end. There were two servant’s rooms and theirs. She turned and looked down the other end of the hallway and shook her head, the rooms were much too far away to be a convincing re-direction.

Sansa opened the servant’s room closest to Robb’s and saw no one inside. Robb didn’t have a squire and he wasn’t married so no maid would be inside either.

She then walked to the next servant’s room and opened it to find Jon in bed asleep.

She smiled at the image, despite her anger towards her mother.

Sansa quietly approached him and touched his shoulder.

“Jon,” she said softly.

He slowly rolled from his side to his back and looked up at her dreamily.

“Sansa? Where have you...?”

“It’s morning,” she said softly as she touched his forehead. “My mother showed you to the wrong room purposefully.”

“What?” He looked at her comfused and wiped some sleep from his eyes.

“She still has it in her head to keep me a maid,” Sansa said ashamed. “And I’m sorry but she placed you in the servant’s quarters instead of...”

“It’s fine,” Jon said as he sat up and wiped his face. “Are you okay? I thought something was off, but then I put my head down and...”

“I did just the same,” Sansa laughed.

“Well, at least we both got a good night’s sleep,” Jon smiled sleepily up at her.

“You look like you could use a few more hours,” Sansa said as she looked at his chest. 

“I could use a few more days sleep,” Jon chuckled. “I haven’t even bathed...”

“Come to bed,” Sansa said as she reached for his hand.

“I would be better to stay here, no use getting your bed all dirty,” Jon said as he looked at the linens and furs twisted about his waist.

“I’d rather have you with me, just sleeping,” Sansa said as she liinked her hand in his.

When Jon rose the bed popped off it’s ledge and a corner fell to the ground.

“I’ve now broken the bed,” Jon huffed as he stood before her in his braies about to reach out and fix the bed.

Sansa suddenly realized what they could do to teach her mother a lesson.

“Can you go along with a game? Teach my mother to not interfere any further?” Sansa asked as she stopped him from fixing it.

“Sure,” Jon yawned and stood back up.

“I’ll just be a moment,” Sansa said as she ran from the room.

Jon walked over to the wash basin and washed his face, under his arms and across his chest before Sansa returned. The water was cold but it was a better alternative then the smell coming off him.

She scurried back in the room with the vial of blood.

“Sansa,” Jon said as he looked at her strangely.

“Let’s have her believe we found each other during the night and she’ll stop bothering me about staying a maid,” Sansa said as she dripped some blood on the linens and crumpled them up on top even more mixing them with the furs.

“It looks quite the scene,” Jon had to admit with a chuckle.

Sansa threw off her robe and tossed it on the floor.

“I need your braies,” Sansa said as she looked at him standing in nothing but.

“And how am I supposed to walk to our actual room? Stark naked?” Jon asked her, astounded.

“Fine,” she said as she reached undernearth her gauze thin nightgown and removed her own small clothes and tossed them among the linens and furs on the bed.

Jon couldn’t help his bodily reaction to the sight of her practically naked before him. He hoped she didn’t look south of his waist until he had his reaction under control again.

“Come on,” Sansa said as she grabbed his hand and walked him from the room giggling. Her giggling was catching and Jon found himself chuckling as he pictured Lady Stark’s reaction to the room Sansa had prepared.

When Sansa opened the door, she took one step into the hallway and stopped in her tracks; her giggling came to an abrupt halt. Jon bumped into the back of her chuckling and placing a hand on her hip when suddenly noticed Robb standing in the hallway staring at them.

“Robb,” Jon said as he stepped in front of Sansa and her see through night gown to preserve her dignity.

Robb opened his mouth to speak but no words formed. His gaze moved from their faces to the messy bed behind them, back to them-taking in their dress (or lack of it) and then dropped to Jon’s clear erection.

“We were just..” Jon started.

All conversation stopped as Robb suddenly sucker punched Jon, Sansa screamed, and Jon dropped to the floor.


	19. 19

Jon woke to a flurry of people around him all yelling at each other and a cold cloth over his one eye.

He groaned and three sets of eyes; Robb, Father and Sansa all looked down at him at once.

“Jon!” Sansa said as she sat down on the bed next to him. “How’s your eye?”

“Jon, I’m…” Robb started.

“If the next words out of your mouth are that you are ‘sorry’, I’ll cold cock you myself,” Sansa snapped at her brother.

“Children!” Ned boomed.

“I was just trying…” Robb barked.

Jon groaned again and Ned looked at him sympathetically.

“Both of you out so Jon gets some peace!” Ned barked again at his children. “And for all the gods sake Sansa, put on something over that nightgown!”

“Yes, Father,” Sansa curtsied before she glared at Robb.

“Father I wanted to tell Jon…” Robb started.

“You too!” Ned snapped.

Robb bowed his head and left right after his sister.

Ned sighed and walked over to the basin where he wet another linen for Jon.

“Not the most auspicious of starts,” Ned said as he turned and walked back towards Jon.

“No, Father,” Jon agreed.

“Sansa said Robb punched you for no reason,” Ned said as he handed Jon the fresh cold cloth.

“No, he had reason,” Jon sighed as he placed the cloth on his eye and handed the other to his Father.

“Not exactly subtle,” Ned huffed as he sat back in his chair.

“I didn’t realize he’d be awake,” Jon offered. “But considering the conclusions he came to, I deserved a good punch.”

“For being married?” Ned asked.

“Aye,” Jon said quietly.

“She may be his sister, but you are now her husband, and no son of mine should be attacking you for…for doing what men and women do when they are married.”

“Tis a lovely thought,” Jon sighed as he sunk back into the soft pillow.

“I’ll speak with Robb,” Ned said as he placed his hands on his knees and stood. “And you speak with Sansa.”

“I’m sorry?” Jon asked, confused.

“You need to speak with her about subtlety and not getting her mother going,” Ned explained. “She’s not making things easier. And for gods sakes, tell her to not walk about in that slip of a night dress.”

“I will Father,” Jon nodded and winced at the motion.

“Robb will be apologizing, despite what Sansa says,” Ned said as he reached for the door to leave.

“And I should apol…” Jon started.

“Jon, you will be King,” Ned said with some force. “It’s time you started acting like one. The King does not apologize for bedding his wife.”

“But…” Jon started.

“I’ll hear no more of it,” Ned said, stopping all conversation. “I’ll have Cook send up some breakfast. You need rest, my Son.”


	20. 20

Robb did apologize to Jon and that night there was an awkward family dinner. Jon tried to ignore the pain in his eye. Sansa tried to ignore Arya’s glare. Robb tried to pretend that he hadn’t been cut down by his father for his actions. And finally, Lady Stark tried to not think about the condition of the room Jon and, it seemed, Sansa had slept in last night.

“We need to work on your fighting skills, boys,” Ned said, breaking the silence of dinner. “You are good with a blade but you need to get better.”

Robb, Jon and Theon all nodded their heads but said nothing.

“I’ve sent a raven for Master Snout to join us for some practice,” Ned said happily.

Jon, Robb and Theon groaned.

“Why are you not pleased?” Sansa asked Jon.

“Master Snout is an excellent swordsman,” Jon merely said.

“They don’t like him because he doesn’t allow any of their antics,” Ned explained.

“Father, he insists we fight with both hands equally and...” Robb started.

“And he talks of precision, not force,” Jon added.

“And his precision will save your life, as will the ability to fight with either hand,” Ned said as he eyed both men. “Master Snout is...”

“One of the finest men with a blade you will come upon between the Wall and King’s Landing,” Jon, Robb and Theon said in unison.

The table broke out into fits of laughter at their display and suddenly the air in the room wasn’t as heavy.

“Well, at least I know you listen sometimes when I speak,” Ned joked as the laughter died down.

Sansa watched Jon and Robb exchange a brotherly look and she knew all had been forgiven between the two of them. That made her incredibly happy.

Most of the day had been spent in their rooms with Sansa fussing over Jon’s eye and Jon not wanting to be fussed over. Between that, Robb’s apology, the visit from the Maester and servants moving in their things, it had been far from restful. 

Chatter broke out among the family about the harvest, the gifts that had come in for Jon and Sansa’s wedding from various houses, and work that needed to be done around Winterfell. By the end of the sweets all was once again normal in the Stark household.

Jon, Robb and Ned retired to his office to talk about repairs for Winterfell while the remainder of the family went to Lady Stark’s solar. Sansa was in the middle of sewing a direworlf onto one of Jon’s tunics when Arya finally snapped at her.

“Jon would have had no issues getting home for dinner last night had you not travelled with him,” Arya said harshly.

“Very keen observation,” Sansa said, trying not to be baited.

“You’re going to slow him down going to King’s Landing as well,” Arya explained.

“And how am I going to do that?” Sansa asked as she put down her sewing to look at her sister.

“I don’t know, take all kinds of breaks, complain the day is too long, not be able to ride for as long is as needed,” Arya listed. “Any number of things you do could slow him down. He won’t be to King’s Landing before he’s an old man.”

“Jon has promised me riding lessons,” Sansa explained.

“He what?” Arya asked, confused.

“So I am a better rider,” Sansa explained. “He’s starting to teach me tomorrow.”

“He is?” Arya asked.

“No, I’m lying Arya,” Sansa snapped before she picked up her sewing again.

“Why would he do that?”

“Because I asked him,” Sansa said honestly.

“He doesn’t have to do everything you ask,” Arya said as she stood from her chair.

“And he’s well aware of that,” Sansa huffed as she continued to sew.

“What’s that mean?” Arya asked.

Sansa bundled up her sewing; Arya was annoying her and she was done for the day. 

“What it means is: Jon is his own person, free to make his own choices. He’s smart and...”

“I know he’s smart!” Arya snapped.

“Then why do you insist on placing me as the manipulative woman who he’s stupidly following?” Sansa asked her loudly.

“Sansa?” Catelyn called from across the room.

Arya looked at Sansa confused.

“You say he’s smart? Trust he’s smart enough to know his own mind,” Sansa said with a hiss as she grabbed her things and left.


	21. 21

Sansa was going up the stairs to their rooms when she heard Robb and Jon speaking in the hallway. She paused on the stairs, not wanting to interupt and spoil whatever conversation they were having.

“So you do mean to make a go of it?” Robb asked.

“Aye, we do,” Jon said softly. “I am sorry if that bothers you Robb. You are her brother...”

“I’m yours as well, no matter your parents,” Robb said kindly.

“And I thank you for that,” Jon said kindly.

“Jon when you told me before your wedding that you intended for you and Sansa to live chaste...”

“Please don’t remind me of a promise I cannot keep,” Jon interrupted.

“I wasn’t,” Robb said. “Allow me to finish.”

Jon grunted in a very northern way and Robb continued.

“It made me sad,” Robb admitted. “I couldn’t say the words at the time, but thinking of you and Sansa married, never having children, never knowing love...it was heartbreaking.”

“So then why’d you punch me?” Jon asked, confused.

Robb chuckled. “The reality of you and Sansa being together and the theory are two separate things. In that moment, reality made me her protective older brother and you the brother who had betrayed me and your words.”

Jon chuckled with him.

“I am sorry,” Robb said. “The unfortunate nature of our room proximity will mean I need to get beyond that.”

“You will,” Jon sighed.

“Good night, Jon,” Robb said ans Sansa heard a clap on someone’s back.

“Good night brother,” Jon said in return.

Sansa heard feet and two doors shut. She waited another few moments and then quietly walked to their room and inside.

“Sansa?” Jon turned around startled when she entered. He was changing.

“I heard you and Robb talking and I didn’t want to interrupt,” Sansa admitted freely.

Jon finished taking off his shirt and paused.

“All of it?” Jon asked.

“I heard the bit about you and he discussing how our marriage was going to be,” Sansa said as she walked to her basket and laid down her stitching.

Jon sighed. “Living chaste.”

“Yes, and how that saddened Robb,” Sansa said softly as she sat on their bed.

“Aye, that surprised me,” Jon agreed as he sat down next to her.

“I don’t feel it is wrong to live as a true husband and wife, do you?” Sansa asked as she turned her head to look at him fully.

“I thought it would,” Jon said thoughtfully. “When I said that to Robb, I thought it would.”

“And now?”

“I think you know,” Jon said shyly.

“I want to hear you say it,” Sansa said as she grasped his hand.

Jon squeezed her hand and leaned in to kiss her passionately. When their lips parted he leaned his forehead against hers and spoke closely to her face.

“I want you with ever fibre of my being,” he said in a whisper.

“Then take me,” Sansa smiled back at him.


	22. 22

Jon leaned over and kissed her causing Sansa to fall back on the bed as he climbed on top of her. They kissed for a long time, their bodies pressed against one another. She wanted to feel his bare chest against her breasts again so Sansa pushed at his chest and stopped their kiss.

Jon looked down at her confused.

“You need to undo me,” she said as she sat up and he moved back onto he haunches.

Jon reached around the back of her dress and started to undo the ties. It was an awkward position and he eventually rose and sat behind her. The dress fell apart when it was completely undone and Jon leaned forward to kiss the soft skin at the back of her shoulder. Sansa dropped her head back against him and sighed.

When his hands eventually roamed to the front of her he undid the slip and accessed her breasts, Sansa felt as if she was a pot of hot stew melting into his touch.

“You need to get up,” he whispered into her ear.

Sansa, pulled from her erotic thoughts, stood slowly and he stood with her, pushing down her dress until it fell to the floor in a pool at her feet. Jon then lifted her nightgown over her head and threw it to the side. She stood in front of him in nothing but her small clothes and she could sense his assesment as he rounded from behind her to in front of her, his fingers trailing across her skin.

Sansa shivered in the cold and quivered at his touch.

“You’re beautiful,” Jon said, his voice raspy.

“You’ve had a look at me before, on our wedding night,” Sansa reminded him.

“That I did,” Jon said as he finally stood before her, his face level with hers. “But I didn’t take a moment to just look.”

She watched as he gazed into her eyes, his dark to her light and it felt more intimate than any act they could or had performed.

After the longest time of just looking at each other, not touching, not speaking, Sansa felt her breath slow, her body relax and her nerves settle. It felt like he was looking into her soul and she his.

Sansa then reached for his breeches and started to undo the ties. Jon looked down and watched her hands make swift work of what lay between them. They and his small clothes dropped the the floor with a whoosh. And, before he could reach out to undo hers, she got rid of them herself.

He stepped into her body and pressed his skin against hers, kissing her with all the passion that had been brewing for days now. She returned the favor and their kiss wasn’t broken until they pulled apart gasping for breath.

“My turn for a look,” Sansa said as she stepped to the side and slowly trailed her hand around his form as she walked. She watched him puff out his chest slightly and smiled to herself, he was trying to be impressive. What he didn’t know was that he was impressive without trying. Her hand trailed across his smooth buttocks and she watched a shiver run down his spine. When she got back around the the front of him, his hard cock was begging to be touched.

Instead of stopping, Sansa continued back around his body until she was behind him again. She pressed her brests against his back and reached around to grasp his cock in her hand, moving her hand up and down as he hunched his back and made all manner of noises.

All motion was stopped when his hand firmly grabbed hold of hers and stopped her work, peeling her fingers from his cock and then turning around with one swift motion so they were chest to chest.

“Oh,” Sansa huffed, surprised as his chest slapped against hers.

He took both her hands and held them firmly behind her back and smiled deviously at her.

“No more of that,” he said with a grin.

Sansa smiled back; she enjoyed the press of his body against hers.

Jon then slowly lowered himself so he was level with her peach, his one hand still tightly holding onto her wrists behind her back and pressing them against her buttocks.

His other hand parted her folds and she gasped as his mouth met her peach. He worked her until she was wet and her hips were undulating against his mouth, the entire time preventing her from touching him; her hands still bound.

“Oh gods,” Sansa moaned as she reached a level of joy she’d only felt when he did this to her on their wedding night. 

She then felt Jon’s body slowly slide up hers until they were face to face again. Sansa felt beads of sweat around her hairline and down her back; their room was suddenly incredibly warm.

Jon finally released her wrists and she wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him as if he was her last meal.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked it on our wedding night,” Jon smiled against her lips.

“I did,” Sansa huffed. “I do.”

“Sansa , neither of us have done this before…” Jon started. “Has your mother…?

“I do know the mechanics of the act,” Sansa smiled at him.

“I’ve seen animals…from behind, once I saw a woman climb on a man’s lap in a tavern…I have heard about some outlandish positions but…” Jon stammered.

“We can face each other; you on top of me,” Sansa explained.

“You’d like that best?” Jon asked, unsure.

“I’d like whatever you want, as long as it’s you and me,” Sansa said with a smile.

Jon smiled back. After everything they’d already done, he felt an immense amount of pressure to get this one part exactly right.

“I’d like to watch you,” Jon admitted as he walked her back towards their bed. he eased her down onto the matress and positioned himself over her, taking his cock in his hand.

“I do know it can hurt you, so if…” Jon started as he entered her.

“I will,” Sansa said, suddenly worried how much it may hurt.

Jon eased his member inside her one bit at a time watching her face the entire time. She seemed worried, but not harmed. Then her face twisted and she took in a sharp breath.

“Sansa, are you…?” Jon started but was stopped when she cupped his cheek and looked at him reassuringly. 

“You need to push through,” Sansa said as she winced. “It’ll be better for me once you do.”

Jon nodded and pushed his cock in the last bit as he watched her cry out in pain.

“Sansa!” He gasped.

“I’ll be fine, just be still,” she said softly as she took some deep breaths. 

“I should…” Jon started as he pulled back his hips and pulled out of her completely. His cock was covered in blood.

“Sansa, I think I’ve harmed…” he said as he looked at the amount of blood, which seemed to be much more than he’d anticipated.

“Jon, you need to get back inside me,” Sansa said as she looked at his cock.

“But the blood,” Jon said as he pointed to his member.

“It’s normal,” Sansa said as she pulled his hips back towards her.

“I don’t want to harm..” Jon said as the tip of his cock rested against her peach.

“I’ll tell you if you do,” Sansa said as she encouraged him forward. 

He entered her a second time and her passage seemed slicker, probably from the blood. When he reached the end of her she didn’t wince in pain again, but seemed to relax when no pain came.

“Better,” she sighed as she lifted her knees up slightly at his sides.

Jon pulled back slightly and pushed forward. It felt amazing to be inside her. He slowly pulled out farther and farther, pushing back slowly so as not to harm her. She smiled after a few strokes and looked up at him happily.

“It’s nice,” Sansa said softly.

“It’s unbelieveable,” Jon gasped as he pushed and pulled his way in her.

“Sansa, I can spill outside of you, if you prefer,” Jon said as his hips rocked against her.

“I want you inside me for the entire time,” Sansa said as she touched his chest. 

“Are you sure? A babe…” Jon grunted as he picked up the pace slightly.

“It is late for a babe, I couldn’t get with one today,” Sansa said as she cupped his cheek.

Jon smiled down at her and suddenly leaned forward and took one of her nipples in his mouth.

Sansa sighed in pleasure and that was his undoing, he came inside of her with such ferocity he wasn’t sure if he’d damage her insides.

“Oh gods, Sansa,” Jon cried as he felt himself being drained.

Sansa felt his warm seed fill her and she tried to even her breathing as his body relaxed against hers and all of his weight landed on her chest. 

“Oh gods,” Jon kept mumbling against her shoulder.

Sansa smiled at the pleasure of him; the pleasure her body brought him. Just as he had brought her pleasure earlier with his mouth. 

She ran a finger across his back and felt him place sloppy kisses on her shoulder. 

“I’m so glad it wasn’t in a barn,” Sansa said thoughtfully.

Jon raised his head up and looked at her thoughtfully. “Aye, I am too. But this makes me want to be inside you all of the time.”

Sansa smiled at his honesty.

“To bring you the pleasure you’ve brought me,” Jon said as he ran a finger across her lips.

“It feels nice to have you inside me,” Sansa said honestly. “And you brought me pleasure before.”

Jon nodded in agreement. “But I think I can this way as well.”

“Then we shall have to explore that,” Sansa said with a smirk.

Jon smiled back. “Now, that is a task I will heartily take on.”


	23. 23

“Ahhhh!” Sansa yelled as she ran from one side of the room to another.

“If you meet my terms I will no longer hunt you,” Jon laughed as he darted toward her, his naked body in full view in the morning light.

“Never!” Sansa laughed as she quickly ran around the end of their bed.

“You will force me to take the offensive,” Jon smirked as he darted toward her.

She ran around to the other end of the bed and nearly ran smack into a wall.

“Sansa, be careful!” Jon chided.

She righted herself and took off to their dressing room.

“You better not be putting on more clothes!” Jon laughed as he ran in after her.

She threw a fur over her shoulders and looked at him as if daring him to attack. And attack he did; lunging right for her and missing as she side stepped and ran back into their bedroom.

“Lady Targaryen, there will be a price you need to pay for that fur!” Jon boomed as he ran after her.

Sansa jumped to the side of their bed but not before Jon caught her night dress in his hand and she faltered. 

“It’ll rip,” She huffed as she tried to pull away.

“I don’t care,” he chuckled as he stepped closer to her.

Her eyes went wide as saucers and she ducked down into her nightdress, releasing her arms and her body from it and running to the head of their bed stark naked. 

Jon smiled and dropped the garment to the floor; approaching her like a tiger upon it’s prey. 

“I surrender!” Sansa laughed as he approached. “Take mercy on your captive.”

“My captive will have to concede to my conditions,” Jon said as he grabbed her abour the waist and pulled her against him, their bodies slapping against each other. “As punishment for her impertinence.”

Sansa leaned in and quickly kissed him in the lips.

“There, are we even?” She asked with a smirk.

“Not quite,” Jon said as he walked her back toward their bed and slowly lowered her to the mattress.

“No clothes for three days…”

“I’m supposed to walk around…” Sansa protested.

“…in our rooms when I’m present,” Jon finished.

Sansa smiled up at him. “I concede.”

Jon placed his fingers in her passage and, finding it wet, smiled down at her.

“And you must…”

“More concessions? Was the act really that traitorous my King?” Sansa asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“It was,” Jon said as he entered her slowly, not wanting to harm her with this second act.

Sansa’s eyes went wide but there was no indication of pain on her face.

“And you must rub my back before dinner when I get back from sparring practice,” Jon said as he moved slowly in and out of her.

“Your demands are too great!” Sansa yelled dramatically as she threw a hand over her forehead.

“Your act was one of treason in this room and for that…” Jon said as he pumped inside of her and she threw her legs around his back.

“Oh gods,” he moaned as he felt his access deepen.

Sansa huffed below him, she felt the difference as well.

“That’s…it’s so…” Jon said, no words coming to him.

Just then there was a knocking at their door. Both participants froze, Jon felt his cock twitch painfully inside of her.

“Jon, Father said there’s been a raven!” Robb’s voice boomed from the other side of the door.

Sansa burst into a fit of giggles and Jon quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

“Tell Father, I’ll be right down!” Jon called out, trying to sound composed.

He didn’t.

Jon looked down at his wife with her laughing eyes and covered mouth and couldn’t help but laugh himself.

He uncovered her mouth and they burst into a fit of giggles. He felt his cock start to soften inside her and then Jon looked at her jiggling breasts as they bounced with her laughter. His cock hardened itself and he started to pump inside her again.

“You sounded like a man under some sort of strain,” Sansa laughed at him.

“I was,” Jon said as he pushed inside her again and again. “I was trying not to spill while I spoke with our Brother. That would have played with my head for a long time.”

Sansa burst out in a loud bark of a laugh and Jon spilled inside her. 

When he was spent and her laughter was waning, he rolled off her form and lay beside her looking up at their ceiling.

“Maybe we should ask for different rooms?” Sansa asked.

“No, I’m sure…” Jon started and then stopped. “Do you think he heard anything?”

“We were quite loud,” Sansa said, honestly.

“Seven hells,” Jon sighed as he covered his eyes.


	24. 24

“There’s been a raven?” Jon asked as he quickly walked into the Great Hall where everyone was having breakfast.

“It’s addressed to you,” Ned Stark said as he held out a small scroll of paper.

Jon swallowed hard and walked toward his father, taking the paper from him. It bore the Lannister seal.

Jon broke the seal and started to unfurl it. The note was longer than he expected and the script looked sharp and angry.

“It came for you or for Father?” Sansa asked, out of breath as she joined them. Her dressing robe wrapped around her and her hair flowing down her back loose.

“It’s for Jon,” Arya snapped. “And you’d know that if you were here instead of doing your hair.”

“Arya!” Ned snapped.

“Yes, because my hair is so beautiful this morning,” Sansa said sarcastically as she walked toward Jon and looked over his shoulder at the page.

He was reading the bottom when she started.

“To The Bastard of House Stark,” Sansa read aloud. “How dare you claim to be a Targaryen when it is well known that King Robert Baratheon slashed the throats of all living people of that traitorous house.”

Jon then rolled up the scroll so she could read no further.

“Jon!” Sansa snapped.

Jon handed the scroll to his father and Ned looked at it, then read the rest aloud.

“To claim such a place is to ask for your head to be taken, and as Ned Stark’s bastard, it would be no loss to Westeros. I will give you one opportunity to renounce your claim to the Targaryen name and the throne upon which I proudly sit before I send the full force of the Lannister Army upon you. If we meet on the battlefield, I will allow you to live one more day so you can watch me…” Ned paused and cleared his throat. “slaughter your entire family and set my soldiers upon your new bride where they will make use of her in ways that will amuse me and frighten you. It’s now up to you bastard. And it’s signed King Joffrey.”

Jon felt Sansa falter and he swiftly turned to catch her elbow.

“Sansa,” Jon said softly as he walked her to a chair.

“I’m fine, it’s just the…language,” Sansa said recovering. Jon reached onto the table and grabbed Theon’s cup and handed it to Sansa for her to drink.

“I’ll gut that bastard myself,” Arya said angrily.

“It’s a good scroll,” Ned nodded.

Gasps rang out around the room. 

“Ned, how could you say such a thing?!” Catelyn Stark gasped.

“Father!” Robb snapped.

“It means he’s scared,” Ned nodded. “And he knows Jon’s claim is true. If he thought it was like any of the other unfounded claims he wouldn’t have bothered. But to threaten Jon with the full force of the Lannister Army? It’s a good letter.”

Jon swallowed hard and looked down at his pale wife. He knew what his father said was true, but it didn’t change the threat to her. She would need to stay back at Winterfell when the time came to march, he wouldn’t put her in jeopardy.

“He is scared,” Bran nodded as he inspected the writing. “He wrote it fast and in anger. He knows you are a Targaryen, someone in King’s Landing has confirmed it.”

Jon nodded and took the cup from Sansa once she took a drink. He took a drink himself.

“But if he kills Jon there’s no claim,” Theon said quite matter-of-factly.

“True,” Jon nodded as he placed the cup down.

“And if I’m dead there is no reason to harm any of…” Jon started.

“Jon!” Robb snapped. “Don’t even think it.”

“I’ve placed you all in danger,” Jon said as he looked at his family. “If it was just me, I’d keep the claim, but the threats to you…to Sansa…”

“You are the rightful King,” Sansa said as she took his hand and looked up at him. “You can’t deny it, and if you do for me…for our family…it won’t make Westeros any better a Kingdom or Joffrey any better an King.”

“But Sansa…” Jon said as he crouched down on his haunches before her. holding her hands in his

“But nothing,” she smiled at him. “You will sit on that throne and I will sit beside you, proudly.”

“You’ll have the full force of the North behind you once Theon makes copies for all the other houses to see,” Ned said as he grabbed the scroll and handed it to Theon. 

Theon took the scroll and nodded; he liked being given important jobs such as this.

“I’ll get them off straight away, Jon,” Theon said as he rose from the table.

“Thank you, Theon,” Jon nodded to him.

Silence filled the room after Theon left and no one moved for almost a full minute.

“You should eat,” Catelyn Stark said to the two of them. 

“You’re probably starving,” Robb said, then realizing the implication, looked at Jon and mouth the word ‘sorry’ before his face reddened.

“I am,” Jon said as he helped Sansa stand. He hoped no one else but Robb and he noticed the exchange.

He and Sansa went to the open seats and sat, reaching for the food and being passed baskets with bread and meats.

“I’m going to need more help with sparring today,” Ned Stark explained. “The Wityn’s have nephews visiting and I may have promised some lessons from you boys. It’ll get you in shape for Master Snout.”

Jon and Robb groaned at once.

“Can it be this afternoon, Father?” Jon asked. “I promised Sansa a riding lesson.”

“Of course,” Ned nodded. “I’ll send word.”

“Can I come too?” Arya asked.

“For sparring, no,” Catelyn asnwered.

“No, the riding lesson, with Jon,” Arya explained.

All eyes looked to Jon for agreement.

“Of course,” Jon said with a smile. “You can always come along. As long as your Lady Mother is in agreement.”

Arya looked quickly towards her mother and Catelyn Stark nodded. “Be back for the mid day meal.”

“We will!” Arya said excitedly.

Arya jumped from her seat and grabbed a quince before running towards the exit.

“Eat quick!” Arya called as she got to the door. “We can’t waste a minute!”

The entire table laughed at her excitement and Sansa grasped Jon’s hand in hers. He smiled at her and closed his eyes. There may be threats from the false King, but today would go about as usual.


	25. 25

“Good Sansa!” Jon yelled to her as he watched her come back from a steep gallop.

“I could do that months ago,” Arya said from her saddle next to him.

“Arya, you need to stop,” Jon said turning to her and looking at her seriously.

“What?!” Arya asked shocked.

“I think I pulled him back a little when it got steeper,” Sansa said breathless as she approached them with her horse at a trot.

“Aye, you did,” Jon nodded. “Maybe try it again, and not give into your fear.”

Sansa nodded and looked at Arya perplexed. “What’s the matter Arya?”

Arya just gave Sansa a dark look.

“Fine,” Sansa scoffed before she started back down the hill that Arya and Jon sat atop.

“Arya,” Jon warned.

“It’s just us, Jon,” Arya said with a smirk. “Sansa doesn’t have to know what you say about her. I won’t tell.”

“I have nothing to say about her,” Jon chided. “But I would like you to either refrain from the biting comments and remarks or…”

“Or what?” Arya snapped.

“Or I won’t be spending much time with you,” Jon said seriously.

“Are you having one on?” Arya chuckled.

“No, I’m completely serious,” Jon said as he met her eyes. “She’s my wife and I won’t have you baiting her or saying nasty things about her.”

“What?” Arya asked, surprised.

“I want to continue to do things with you Arya, but if you hurt her, I won’t,” Jon said clearly. 

Arya looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

“Men really are easily swayed by a cunt,” Arya said with venom.

Jon looked like he’d been slapped by the sister he had always loved.

He leaned in close to her and clamped a tight hand on her upper arm. “Take your bloody horse and go home to Winterfell , NOW!”

It was then Arya’s turn to look like Jon had slapped her. 

“NOW, Arya!” Jon snapped as he let go of her arm and gave her a slight shake.

“Fuck you!” Arya hissed. “Fuck you both!” 

She then galloped away.

Jon massaged his forehead and looked down the hill at his wife who was galloping up it without pulling back.

She was smiling and looked at him, then her face fell.

She reached the top and slowed as she approached him.

“What’s the matter?” Sansa asked, out of breath.

“Nothing,” Jon sighed. “Good job on that one.”

“Where’s Arya?” Sansa asked.

“She’s gone back to Winterfell,” Jon said as he looked over his shoulder at Arya galloping back.

“You’ve fought,” Sansa said, observing him.

Jon just looked away.

“About me?” Sansa inquired.

“I started it, but she definately finished it,” Jon chuckled.

“I can handle myself, Jon,” Sansa said as she reached over to touch his hand. “She’s my sister and has always been…difficult with me. You know that as much as I do. Us being married wasn’t going to change that.”

“It has changed it though,” Jon explained. “You are my wife, Sansa. I can’t have Arya or…or anyone insulting you.”

Sansa gave him a small smile. “Well that’s very noble of you, but I don;t want you and Arya falling out over me.”

Jon looked at her and gave her a small smile.

“Well, I’ve explained my terms, and now it’s her move,” Jon said as he shifted his hand to squeeze hers in return.

They heard horses appoaching and saw Theon and Robb coming back from Wintertown. 

Jon and Sansa dropped each other’s hands and waited for them to approach.

“Holding hands on a hill,” Theon jabbed as he approached them on his horse. “How sweet.”

“Do you have anything worthy to share?” Jon asked clearly.

“The grain is low,” Robb yelled over Theon.

“Is it an issue?” Jon asked.

“Right now, no,” Robb said as he siddled up next to Sansa’s horse. “But if the mill isn’t fixed…”

“What’s required?” Jon asked.

“Muscle!” Theon said as he held up his arm, demonstrating.

“We need many men to get the new wheel on,” Robb said. “They want to do it tomorrow.”

“I’ll help,” Jon said.

“Aye, you and every able-bodied young man in Winterfell and Wintertown,” Robb chuckled.

Jon nodded.

“Are you coming back for the meal?” Robb asked.

“Aye, we’ll…” Jon started.

“In a few minutes,” Sansa interrupted. “I left a cloak down by the thatch of trees.”

“You can go back and I’ll get it,” Jon said as he looked toward his wife.

“That’s a good puppy,” Theon muttered loud enough for Jon to hear.

“You don’t know where it is,” Sansa said.

“We’ll meet you back there,” Jon said as he turned to his brother. 

Robb and Theon nodded and galloped toward Winterfell as Jon and Sansa made their way down the hill and toward the small wood.

“You had another cloak?” Jon asked as they approached the trees.

Sansa said nothing in return.

“Sansa?” Jon asked as they dismounted.

Sansa looked at him and smiled. She then looked over his shoulder and seemed happy with what she saw.

“They’re gone,” Sansa said with a smile as she took a few steps toward him and wrapped her hands behind his neck.

“Where’s your cloak?” Jon asked, confused.

“There is no cloak,” Sansa said with a smirk.

“Then why…?” Jon started then stopped as her true purpose dawned on him.

Sansa raised an eyebrow at him and kissed his temple.

“Anyone could come by,” Jon said as he turned and looked behind them.

“Then take me into the wood a little,” Sansa smiled at him.

“You are a wicked woman,” Jon said before he kissed her soundly and walked her backwards into the woods.

When they reached a more hidden place, Jon laid her on the ground and attacked her mouth with his as he undid his breaches.

His hand reached up under her dress and found no small clothes.

He pulled back and looked at her laughing face baffled.

“Sansa, either you have done some sort of trick or…” Jon began.

“Or I wasn’t wearing them to begin with,” Sansa smiled up at him.

Jon pushed himself down her body and put his head under her dress as she laughed.

“Not anything? All morning?” Jon said as he came back out from underneath her dress.

“You did say I was wicked,” Sansa reminded him.

Jon hoisted up her dress and looked at her bare red thatch, still unbelieving.

He then leaned down and kissed her there before he slid back up to her face and kissed her lips.

“You like that I…?” Sansa started to ask, but stopped when he pushed inside her. “Oh gods…”

Jon rocked against her as she panted below him. All the riding without small clothes had worked her into a wet mess already.

“I love that you did this,” Jon said as he panted abover her. “I now want to burn all your small clothes so you are always without.”

“Don’t you dare!” Sansa chastized him.

“Oh gods,” he moaned as he empited into her. “Oh Sansa…”

Sansa pulled him down against her and hugged him tight against her chest. They lay like that in the moss for quite a while before they rose and made a much more relaxed trip home to Winterfell.


	26. 26

Changing the wheel on the Mill had become a community event. Theon, Robb, Ned and Jon were joined by several other fit and not so fit men from the area on a brisk autumn morning.

There was much discussion by the older men as to how to best approach the task. Jon, Robb and Theon stayed away from the planning session and instead climbed into the wall of the mill to have a better look at the structure.

They had to get the old broken wheel off, and the new one on. A simple task had it not been for the weight of the two wheels and the frigid nature of the water they would need to wade into.

“They are going to have a rough go of it,” Catelyn Stark said as she watched the boys assess the wheel. “It’s been on there as long as I can remember and it won’t be easy coming off.”

Sansa watched Robb brace an arm against the wheel and point to something that both Jon and Theon looked at.

“What about horses?” Sansa asked. “Oxen?”

“It’s the angle of the mill, they have to do the majority of the work and then the horses can drag it out” Catelyn said. “Your father has been dreading this day.”

“I don’t understand why they can’t just repair it,” Arya said as she walked up next to them.

“It’s broken at the bottom and stuck. They have taken axes to it and…it’s a right mess.” Catelyn explained.

Sansa turned and looked at the huge mill wheel centre laying on a cart. Putting the new one on wouldn’t be as difficult as taking the old one off because it wasn’t completely built yet. The outside of the wheel had yet to be made, and wouldn’t be made until it was in place.

The three women watched as Rickon climbed a nearby hedge and fell, causing Bran to laugh.

“I’ve got Cook bringing down some food and you girls will help with the serving of it,” Catelyn said before she left to get Rickon. “They are going to need strength today.”

Sansa nodded and looked at Jon who caught her eye and smiled her way before he went back to a discussion with Theon.

Ned walked over to his boys and started to point and give them direction.

“I guess they’ve decided,” Sansa said under her breath.

“That water looks cold,” Arya nodded. “I am glad I’m a girl today.”

Sansa laughed at her joke.

“You and me both,” Sansa replied. “Are things better yet, between you and Jon?”

Arya gave her a dark look.

“He tells me everything Arya, don’t look so surprised,” Sansa said.

Arya kicked at a stone.

“I just don’t see why things must change,” she said as she watched her brothers take off their shirts and throw them on the nearby ground.

“Because they must,” Sansa said as she watched Jon step into the cold water. “We are all getting older, Jon is no longer our brother, and we are happy.”

“Are you sure he’s happy?” Arya asked. “Father did force him to marry you.”

“He didn’t,” Sansa said as she looked at Arya confused.

“That’s not what Theon told me,” Arya explained. “Don’t you feel bad doing that to him?”

“Arya, you’ve got it all…” Sansa started then looked away from her sister as the men in the water started to cry out and laugh from the cold. 

“Theon told me that he and Jon spoke, that Jon said he would never go against what Father asked of him and that if he must marry you, he must,” Arya explained. “So you can draw a pretty picture around it in your head, but Jon would have never married you otherwise.”

Arya walked away from Sansa and toward the water, yelling at her brothers and calling them “maidens” for the way they were gingerly walking into the cold water.

“And when we come and take you in with us, you won’t say that!” Robb yelled back at her.

Sansa stood and watched Jon wading toward the wheel and replaying the discussions they’d had about marriage in her head. She felt a creepy sort of feeling wash over her stomach and worried that maybe she’d got it all wrong. Maybe Jon was only doing what was asked of him, maybe he wasn’t truly happy?

Her father climbed on top of the wall with a few other men and some tools and they started the painstaking process of taking off the mill wheel. Jon, Robb, Theon and several other young men from the village edged the wheel along the spoke bit by bit as it loosened painstakingly slowly.

There was much yelling and calls to hold any further pulling as one part needed adjustment and another needed alignment. Sansa watched her husband’s muscles in his back and arms strain with the force of the task.

For almost two hours Sansa watched as the wheel slowly made it’s way closer and closer to release. Then something stuck and for another hour the men tried to figure out what the issue was to no avail.

“Ned, stop for now and come eat!” Catelyn called to her husband. The men continued to point and look at the wheel with no luck. 

Then Jon’s entire body dipped into the water and his head went under.

“Gods!” Sansa gasped as she watched her husband stay under for much to long before he emerged and started to tell the others what he saw. They all nodded their heads and then decided to break for a meal.

Sansa ran to grab a blanket and wrap it around her husband as he emerged form the water.

“Thank you, Sansa,” Jon said as he kissed her on the cheek. His lips were like ice.

“You are going to catch a chill if you go back in that water,” Sansa fretted as she rubbed her hands up and down his arms in an attempt to warm him.

“I’ll be fine,” Jon said. “But someone had to look.”

“I just don’t understand why it had to be you,” Sansa said as she picked up a corner of the blanket and dried his hair.

“What a good mummy,” Theon joked as he walked past them.

Jon gave him a dark look and Sansa rolled her eyes.

“Robb gets to go under next,” Jon smiled at her. “I got my turn over with.”

Sansa smiled at him. “I brought a few sets of dry clothes down for you to change so you don’t have to eat wet.”

“Sansa you didn’t have to…”

“Mother was getting them for Robb and Theon so I got yours,” Sansa said as she nodded towards her brother and Theon walking into the mill to change before eating.

“I better go change,” Jon said as he eyed the mill.

Sansa handed him his clothes and then hugged him close to warm him.

“It’s cold?” She whispered. She wanted to speak with him about what Arya said but couldn’t at this moment.

“Aye,” Jon sighed. “But you’re warm.”

“I haven’t been standing in that water,” Sansa chuckled as she continued to hold him.

Jon stepped back from her and gave her a brief kiss on the lips before he walked toward the mill to change.


	27. 27

After everyone had eaten Sansa watched as Jon, Rob, Theon and other local men waded back into the cold water to finish taking off the wheel. The chill of the water seemed to hit them harder this time as everyone yelled a little louder and laughed a little harder. Either it was the water or the copious amounts of ale everyone consumed at lunch.

“They’re all going to be ill, m’lady,” Mary Dwinnell said as she stood next to Sansa.

“I don’t doubt that,” Sansa sighed under her breath. “But the mill needs fixed.”

“Why it couldn’t have broken in the heat of summer…” Mary surmised. 

Sansa watched as Ruse stood shoulder to shoulder with Jon inching the wheel off it’s spoke. The Dwinnells had been kind enough to ride in to help as fit young men were needed for the task and Ruse fit that description.

“Will Ruse marry soon?” Sansa inquired.

“He hasn’t expressed an interest, but Puel wants him to marry the baker’s daughter, it’s a good match,” Mary said as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched the action with Sansa.

Sansa tried to call up an image of the baker’s daughter from their village and had none in her mind.

“I don’t know her,” Sansa said as she watched her father call a halt to all pulling.

“They’re new to town,” Mary explained. She then looked among the crowd and finding the girl pointed her out to Sansa.

She was not what Sansa had pictured for a strapping lad like Ruse. 

“What’s her name?” Sansa asked as she took in the larger girl with the ruddy skin and fraying hair.

“Agnes,” Mary supplied. “Agnes Snout.”

“Any relation to the Swordsman and trainer Master Snout?” Sansa asked.

“I’m not sure m’lady,” Mary said.

Sansa nodded and watched her father and another man lean far over the wheel and loosen something.

She looked back at Ruse and knew exactly why he wasn’t interested in marriage. The girl looked like she ate cakes all day, kept her head in a humid environment to let her hair frizz and basked in the sun for the remainder of her hours. She may be a lovely person on the inside, Sansa reminded herself, but her outside needed some attention.

“Could you introduce us?” Sansa asked Mary.

“Of course m’lady,” Mary smiled up at Sansa.

Sansa took one parting look at Jon and Robb playfully pushing each other while they waited for her father to tell them to continue and walked away with Mary to meet the girl.

“Agnes,” Mary said as she approached the girl.

Agnes turned and her face lit up and fell all at once when she saw Sansa.

“Oh my,” she squeaked as she curtsied.

“Agnes Snout?” Sansa asked as she extended a hand.

“Aye, m’lady…I mean my Que…”

“Lady is fine,” Sansa said kindly. “Are you related to Mater Snout the swordsman?”

“Aye, I am m’lady,” Agnes supplied. “He’s me uncle.”

“Lovely,” Sansa said. “He’s coming to Winterfell to train my husband and brother soon.”

“Aye, we got word,” Agnes smiled up at her as she tucked fraying strands of hair under a small cap self-consciously.

“And you are new to the area?” Sansa inquired.

“Aye, just the last few months,” Agnes explained. “When my mam died, father wanted to move so…”

Sansa looked at the girl and felt sorry for her. Mother dead, the same age as she, moved to an unfamiliar place, no one to help her negotiate being a woman, it must have been difficult.

“Do you think your father could spare you for a few days in the coming weeks?” Sansa asked.

“Anything m’lady,” Agnes smiled at her.

“We are having at dinner at month’s end and I wanted to invite the Dwinnell’s and was hoping you’d come with them?”

“Oh m’lady, thank you,” Mary and Agnes said at once.

“Your uncle should be with us by then and you’ll be able to spend some time with him,” Sansa noted.

“That would be…that would be lovely, m’lady,” Agnes chuckled. “Just lovely.”

Sansa smiled at her. “Well, then it’s settled. I’ll make arrangements with…”

Sansa stopped talking when she heard screams. Immediately she turned toward the mill and saw men splashing all about and her father screaming from the top of the wall.

She picked up her dress and ran as fast as she could to the edge of the water. She couldn’t see Robb or Jon or Ruse in all of the commotion. 

“Jon!” Sansa screamed as she watched Theon dive under the water and then come up for air. Then another man dive under the water and again return for air.

“What’s happened?!” Sansa cried.

She watched her father jump off the wall and into the water pulling at something with all his might.

“Oh gods…” Sansa cried as tears burst from her eyes and she covered her mouth. She then felt a supportive arm wrap around her waist and turned to see Arya.

“They’re going to be alright,” Arya said with an uneven voice.

Then Sansa saw Robb emerge out of breath and practically collapsing onto Theon as he screamed Jon’s name.

Finally, Jon emerged with Ruse under his arms, both of them almost falling back into the water out of exhaustion had it not been for Ned and another man catching them.

“Jon!” Sansa screamed as she ran into the icy water in front of her and toward him, uncaring of the cold, her dress, or anything else.

“Jon!” Sansa cried as she approached him and pushed hair out of his eyes to see his face. It was pale and he was having issues breathing.

Her father and she hauled Jon up onto the grass where they lay him on his side and Ned clapped on his back time and time again while Jon sputtered and coughed up water.

Sansa collapsed next to him on the ground and held his head and he sputtered and vomited water all over the two of them, the entire time telling him he was going to be fine and that she was there. When he was done coughing and Ned stopped hammering his back Jon spoke in a weak voice.

“Robb? Ruse?” Jon asked, quietly, his eyes closing.

Sansa turned and saw the two men he was inquiring about sitting nearby looking ashen but less harmed then he.

“Fine,” Sansa said as she tenderly brushed his face.

Jon nodded and tried to pull her against him but was too weak.

“You’re wet,” Jon said as he looked at her confused.

“So are you,” Sansa chuckled, as colour started to come back to his face. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Jon apologized as she rolled onto his back and cried out in pain.

“What?!” Sansa asked as she leaned over him.

Jon started to chuckle but stopped when the pain sliced through him.

“I think Father hurt me in trying to save me,” Jon sputtered with a smile.

Sansa laughed at his joke and was just about to speak when her mother got between them.

“You will catch your deaths,” Catelyn Stark said as she threw a blanket over Sansa’s shoulders and then proceeded to tuck one around Jon.

“There’s no need Lady…” Jon started.

“There is need, Jon,” Catelyn said as she looked down at him. “And you need to start calling me Catelyn.”

Jon looked at her confused and wondered if it was possibly a dream or if he wasn’t hearing things correctly.

“Mother?” Sansa asked, shocked at this turn about.

“Don’t look so shocked,” Catelyn said. “He is your husband and there’s no need to be so formal.”

“Alright,” Sansa said, confused.

“Thank you…Catelyn,” Jon said as he touched her hand. 

Then Lady Stark did something she had never done in his life. She took his hand in hers and squeezed. She said nothing and soon dropped his hand before rising to give out blankets to the others.

Sansa and Jon watched her leave and looked at each other amazed.

“Had I known, I would have saved Robb years ago,” Jon said softly as she watched Catelyn walk away.

Sansa swallowed hard. All Jon had ever wanted was a mother’s love and now, she hoped, he’d get it.


	28. 28

“I’m sorry about your dress,” Jon said as he watched her carefully change out of it, trying to avoid the vomit.

“Don’t be sorry,” Sansa said softly as she dropped it to the floor. “I’m just pleased you are alright.”

Jon lay back on their bed and sighed, placing his hand over her eyes. It had been scary for a few moments when he started to go all foggy but they had managed, by some miracle, to come to the surface. Then he heard her screaming as he hit the surface and he knew he wasn’t dead.

“Let me get you changed,” Sansa said as she stood over him in her robe. He was wrapped in linens but still wet. 

“I’m…”

He looked at her frown and knew there was no changing what was about to happen. Sansa helped roll him onto his side and sit up. She stripped him of his shirt and threw it on the floor behind her. Then she asked him to lay back down while she eased down his pants and small clothes. He lay on the bed naked and half asleep. 

“I need you to stand, Jon,” Sansa said as she reached for his shoulders to help him stand. He slowly got to his feet and leaned against her. 

His hands went to her ass and cupped them.

“I don’t think you are up to any exercise,” Sansa chuckled.

“I just need them for stability,” Jon said sleepily.

Sansa laughed at his joke and then heard their bedroom door open. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought…” Catelyn Stark said as she looked at the pair of them. 

“Mother?” Sansa asked as she felt Jon’s hands drop from her ass.

“I’m sorr…”

“No, I could use your help,” Sansa said as she reached for a blanket to cover Jon who quickly helped her wrap it around himself.

“I…fine,” Catelyn sighed.

Catelyn walked toward them and, seeing the wet clothes on the floor and the wet bed, immediately jumped into action. 

“The clean linens?” Catelyn asked.

“On the shelf,” Sansa said, nodding toward it. 

Catelyn walked toward the shelf and took down the sheet.

“Sansa,” Jon whispered as he pulled away from her and stood on his own.

Whether Jon realized it or not, he needed a Mother and her own Mother seemed suddenly interested in the job.

“Thanks Mother,” Sansa said as she helped her mother change the wet linen off their bed and put on the dry one.

Jon sat heavily on the clean bed and sighed. He was completely exhausted.

Catelyn walked around to him and placed a hand on his forehead. 

“You’re a little warm,” Catelyn said as she bent down and looked into his eyes. “And your eyes are a little dull.”

Jon looked between Catelyn and Sansa wondering if this was all a dream. The woman who only had harsh words for him his entire life was checking him for illness?

“I’ve sent for tea,” Sansa said as she tried to help Jon settle in their bed. He went willingly, a sign of either fatigue or confusion, she wasn’t sure.

Catelyn and Sansa stood side by side looking down at him.

“If his fever rises he needs a warm, not hot, bath to bring down his fever,” Catelyn advised.

Jon felt his eyelids getting heavy. He shut them but continued to listen to the women speak.

“Should I dress him in something warm or…?” Sansa asked.

“No, leave him as he is,” Catelyn advised. “Not too many furs either or it could draw up the fever.”

Sansa leaned down and pulled the linen covering him to his armpits. He felt the cold of the room and an involuntary shiver ran through him.

“Some broth and bread as well,” Catelyn said. “He’ll be fine Sansa.”

Jon heard a shuffle and he opened an eye to witness Sansa hugging her mother. “It scared me so much.”

“I know,” Catelyn said softly as she rubbed her back. “But you’ve married a warrior; you must get used to this.”

He heard Sansa sigh and take in a deep breath. Then he heard Catelyn’s retreating footsteps.

“Come get me if you are worried,” Catelyn said before she shut the door behind her.

Jon then felt the bed shift and Sansa snuggling in beside him.

“Jon?” Sansa asked.

He was too tired to answer and really didn’t wish to discuss anything right now; it was all too confusing. 

“I love you,” Sansa whispered.

Jon didn’t indicate that he’d heard; he knew it wasn’t meant to be heard by him. Not yet, at least.


	29. 29

After days in bed and a small fever, Jon woke one morning his normal self. 

“You’re not warm at all,” Sansa said as she touched his forehead. 

“No, but you are,” Jon said as he rolled on top of her. “Especially on the inside.”

“Jon, I don’t think you are ready for that sort of activity after almost drowning, having a fever and…”

He pushed inside her and all speech stopped.

“I missed you,” Jon whispered as he rolled his hips against her. “I missed all of you.”

He leaned his head forward and kissed her soundly on the lips. She parted her legs wider and gasped when he hit a certain spot that made her heart hammer and her body shiver.

“There?” He asked as he watched her face.

Sansa wordlessly nodded her head and he found that spot again and again. He went on rolling and tilting his hips as he watched the blush rise up her body, the gasps come from her lips, and the smiles streak across her face. She looked at him in awe throughout there entire, slow, methodical love making; she seemed both pleased and unsure of what was happening to her.

“Oh gods! Oh gods! Oh Jon! Oh my stars! Joooonnn! ” Sansa screamed as she climaxed around him. 

Jon watched her closely as he pushed into her, making sure he stayed with the spot that brought her so much pleasure. Sansa was beautiful most days, but at this moment she was breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking and he couldn’t fathom how he’d become this fortunate. 

He watched her screaming and then dropping back onto the bed with a dazed eyes and a satisfied glow as he spilled into her and her legs dropped helplessly to hers sides.

“Oh my…oh gods,” Sansa sighed as she wiped her brow. “That was…oh Jon…”

“I knew it was possible,” Jon said softly as he kissed her lips.

“What?” Sansa asked.

“Theon said…”

“Can we not talk about Theon while we’re…while you’re inside me,” Sansa said as she placed a hand on his chest.

“Oh, um, sorry,” Jon said, embarrassed.

Sansa wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. 

“Thank you for…for whatever it was you did,” Sansa said with a smirk.

“I’m not really sure what I did,” Jon chuckled. 

Sansa laughed with him and pretty soon they were both laughing quite loudly.

Sansa heard someone tromp past in the hallway and covered Jon’s mouth as well as her own to cover the sound. 

“Quiet!” Sansa hissed. “Jon…”

Jon rolled off her her and lay on his back next to her. “We need a new room. Somewhere more isolated.”

“Why?” Sansa asked.

“Because I intend to make you scream like that more often,” Jon laughed.

“Oh, you can try…” Sansa teased.

“Try?” Jon asked as he rolled toward her and pinned her down to the bed with one hand while he tickled her with the other hand.

“Ahhhhh!” Sansa laughed and screamed all at once as he tickled her senseless. “Stop! Jon!”

“Tell me who’s your King,” Jon teased.

“You are! Ohhh Jon! Stop ! You’re my King!” Sansa cried.

Jon finally relented and then kissed her on the nose before he rolled off her.

“Bastard!” Sansa laughed as she punched him.

“Ow!” Jon cried. “Do you want me to start again?”

Jon lunged toward her.

“No! No! Mercy!” Sansa laughed.

Jon fell back onto the bed laughing. “I had you!”

“You always have me,” Sansa said softly as she took his hand in hers.


	30. 30

“Theon, we need to talk,” Jon said as he approached him by the well.

“About Robb moving rooms?” Theon asked with a leer.

“What?” Jon asked, surprised.

“He’s moving next to Arya,” Theon said. “I think it had something to do with you upsetting him.”

“I’ve upset Robb?” Jon asked confused.

“Sansa a screamer is she?” Theon laughed as he elbowed Jon.

All Jon saw was red in that moment.

“How dare you!” Jon said as he grabbed Theon by the vest and raised his fist.

“I’m just joking Jon!” Theon said as he held up his arms.

“Don’t joke about her,” Jon warned as he hastily dropped Theon down. “You need to watch what you say about Sansa, Theon, or I will beat you to a bloody pulp.”

“Alright, alright,” Theon said as he stepped away from Jon, bothered by his anger.

“And stop trying to peg Arya against Sansa,” Jon added. “You are making it difficult…more difficult than it needs to be.”

“Jon…”

“Just hear me out,” Jon interrupted harshly. “You need to support us Theon, agreed?”

Theon looked at him and sighed.

“Agreed,” Theon nodded reluctantly.

“Thank you,” Jon said.

They stood awkwardly for a bit before Theon spoke up.

“So you and Sansa are…things are good?” Theon asked.

“They are,” Jon answered abruptly. He couldn’t shake his anger despite himself. 

“Good,” Theon said quietly.

Again silence fell over them.

“We need to go into town and pick up more flour today,” Theon said awkwardly. 

“Aye,” Jon said, feeling some remorse over his quick temper. “Look Theon, I’m sorry if I…” 

“It’s fine, Jon” Theon said before he grabbed the bucket of water and walked toward the stables. 

Jon sighed and watched him go. He wondered why something that made him so happy made everything so difficult.


	31. 31

Jon had spent 3 weeks visiting various Northern homes with his Father, Robb, and Theon to garner support for a battle with the Lannisters ahead.

No one had refused support so far and they had quite the Northern army at this point. It seems, everyone hated the Lannisters and Joffrey in particular. Jon, being a Northern boy from a Northern family sat better with them despite his Targaryen father.

“One more house and then we can go home,” Ned said as they left Castle Clearview. 

“Marsden?” Robb asked.

“Yes,” Ned smiled at his son. “I don’t imagine it’s a problem for you?”

“Uh, no,” Robb said with a smile.

“And it has nothing to do with the fact that Keegan Marsden has broken her engagement to...” Theon teased.

“Theon...” Jon warned. 

It was a well known fact among the Starks that Robb had made in roads to pledge for Keegan Marsden’s hand but a proposal and acceptance had come in from House Ulster. Keegan was to marry their middle son Fennwick. But, a moon prior they’d heard gossip in Wintertown that the engagement was no longer.

“Can I just go forward father?” Robb asked, wanting to secure an engagement with the girl he’d been taken by since they were young.

“Let us find out what the reason was for the parting of ways before you jump in full force,” Ned said cautiously. “But if all is well, you can go ahead Robb.”

Robb nodded and smiled. 

They rode toward Marsden Castle and Jon wished he could part with the group, but duty and massing an army was more important than his personal feelings. He missed Sansa, truthfully. He hadn’t seen her in weeks and he found that he missed her counsel, her laughter, her conversations, and just...her. He laughed at himself; who would have thought a year ago that he’d feel this way?

They were to stay with the Marsden’s for 3 nights and, for Jon, it was 2 nights too long. Marsden Castle was one day’s ride from Winterfell and, with Father’s permisson, he could leave earlier than the others and be home to her a day before anticipated.

When they arrived and the gates opened there was a larger party to greet them then Ned, Robb, Jon or Theon expected. For there, next to Lord and Lady Marsden and their family stood his wife and Lady Stark. Jon couldn’t help the smile that washed over his face at the sight of her.

They dismounted and greeted the Marsden’s, as was custom, but once all duty was done, he wrapped his arms around his wife and gave her a hug that lifted her feet off the ground. She yelped and everyone laughed. He then kissed her softly on the lips and they parted before they embarrassed themselves.

Sansa grabbed his hand in hers as they watched their father exchange plesantries with the Marsden’s and Robb try to not look too obvious as he questioned Keegan’s absence.

“Surprised?” Sansa whispered.

“Wonderfully,” Jon said quietly back as he squeezed her hand. “How did you...?”

“Jergen came to return Saffy from Blakely and offered to ride us out,” Sansa explained. “I told him I missed you terribly.”

“Did you?” Jon asked.

Sansa kissed the side of his face. “What a question?!”

“I missed you as well,” Jon said softly as he shyly smiled at her.

“We must talk about Keegen,” Sansa whispered. “But not here.”

Jon nodded dropped her hand, preferring to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her closer.

“Your mother came as well?” Jon asked.

“She wanted to figure out the mystery as well,” Sansa said. “I’m not sure it bodes well for Robb.”

Jon looked at her confused.

“Later,” Sansa said softly as she nodded toward her father and Lord Marsden leaving the courtyard. “Go join them for a drink.”

Jon nodded and kissed her quickly on the lips. “Thank you for this. I’m going to always love your surprises.”

Sansa smiled at him and swiped at finger across his lips before he turned to leave.

She watched him cross the courtyard and join then men.

“Jon seems quite happy to see you,” Lady Stark said as she siddled up next to her daughter.

“He missed me,” Sansa said softly.

Lady Stark smiled and wrapped an arm around her daughter’s waist. “Ah, young love.”

Sansa looked at her surprised she was interested.

“Come on,” Lady Stark said with a smirk. “Stop mooning over your husband and join the ladies for tea.”


	32. 32

Jon started to undress her as they walked into their room at Marsden House. He had her dress pushed down to her waist before she turned to stop him.

“We need to talk about Keegan,” Sansa laughed as she stepped away from him.

“We can do both,” Jon said as she stepped toward her and tried to push the dress down further.

“Jon, I’m serious!” Sansa laughed.

“Aye, so am I,” Jon said as he lifted his tunic off his head and threw it on the floor.

“Jon,” Sansa said as she backed away some more; watching him strip off more of his clothes until he was naked and standing before her.

Jon gave her a feral grin and stepped closer.

“Keegan Marsden is no longer a maid,” Sansa said quickly.

“What?” Jon asked, suddenly interested in the news about her.

“That’s why the Ulsters called off the engagement,” Sansa explained.

“Because of that? Was it another bloke she was with?”

“Apparently,” Sansa sighed. “And Fenwick doesn’t want her now because she’s...tainted.”

“Oh, fuck,” Jon said as he ran a hand through his hair. “Your mother will think the same way.”

“She already does,” Sansa sighed as she sat on the edge of their bed. “But I think there’s more to the story.”

“Why so?” Jon asked.

“Keegan Marsen is not the type of girl to open her legs to men without an agreement,” Sansa said.

Jon sat down beside her and sighed. “If it’s done with the man, I don’t think Robb will care.”

“It’s not up to him,” Sansa said softly as she took his hand.

“Father wouldn’t...” Jon started.

“He would Jon, as much as you don’t want to admit it,” Sansa said softly. “He would.”

Jon nodded in agreement. 

“So what can we do? Robb is taken with her,” Jon said as she looked toward her. They were quite the sight; he naked and she stripped to the waist.

“I’m going to try talking with Keegan,” Sansa said. “She’s staying away but I’m sure I...”

“Just step carefully,” Jon warned. “You don’t know the details and...”

“I will,” Sansa promised.

“Come on,” Jon said as he pulled her to stand before their bed. He pulled down the rest of her dress and helped her climb into bed with him. He curled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

“Sleep,” Jon whispered into her ear.

“But...” Sansa started.

“Tomorrow,” Jon said softly as he kissed the side of her face. “I’m happy with just this.”

Sansa smiled to herself and snuggled in closer to him.


	33. 33

Sansa walked down the hallway toward Keegan Marsden’s room. She had asked the maids for the location, as Keegan had not been down their entire time present. Robb had looked upset and angry at the same time day and night. Her mother and father carried on with the Marsden’s as usual as if their daughter hadn't been missing for a day. 

Her thoughts went to Jon as she walked. She could still feel Jon’s hands on her breasts, his mouth on her belly, his cock inside her. It had been a beautiful morning spent in bed with her husband as they did all manner of winderful things to each other. They had missed breakfast and it hadn’t gone unnoticed at lunch. Her mother had made a quiet comment, but Theon had not been so quiet in his observations. Jon had cuffed him on the head and Theon had apologized quickly. But the mystery of Keegan had haunted her as she ate and Sansa was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Sansa stopped in front of Keegan’s door and knocked.

“Come in!” Keegan called.

Sansa walked in and smiled at Keegan.

“I’m sorry to bother you…”

“Sansa!” Keegan gasped as she stood from her chair.

“I’m sorry,” Sansa said as she stepped forward. “I don’t mean to intrude but…”

“No, it’s…it’s fine,” Keegan said with a smile as she awkwardly looked about the room.

Sansa smiled and walked toward a nearby chair where she sat.

“I just missed your company,” Sansa said as she looked at her old friend.

“I’ve not been feeling well,” Keegan said, by way of apology.

“Yes, your mother said,” Sansa nodded. “Is there anything I can do?”

They made small talk for a few minutes when suddenly Keegan sighed loudly.

“You know why the engagement was cancelled?” Keegan asked Sansa outright.

“I do,” Sansa admitted. “But, I’d like to hear your side to the story.”

“What other side is there?” Keegan snickered. “What the Ulsters say is the truth.”

“You are no longer a maid?” Sansa asked.

Keegan shook her head in the negative.

Sansa frowned. “But I sense there is more to it.”

Keegan sighed and looked toward the window.

“If I’m overstepping please say,” Sansa noted. “It’s just that Robb…”

“Robb,” Keegan scoffed. “I waited and waited and then Fenwick offered and…”

Sansa clasped her hands on her lap and waited for Keegan to finish.

“Fenwick and I…a few times,” Keegan said uncomfortably. “But we were engaged.”

Sansa nodded.

“But then one time, the last time…” Keegan said as she twisted her fingers together. “I started with Fenwick, but when I opened my eyes…”

Sansa looked at her surprised.

“It was soemone else,” Keegan finished.

“Oh gods!” Sansa gasped.

A couple of tears ran down Keegan’s cheek and she reached for a handkerchief. 

“Oh Keegan,” Sansa consoled. “I’m so sorry. So incredibly sorry.”

“It was awful,” Keegan cried. “I said I’d tell my father and he…Fenwick laughed…”

Sansa was speechless. The story became worse by the moment.

“And that’s how our engagement was called off,” Keegan said with a sniffle.

“But surely your parents…”

“It doesn’t make me any more of a maid,” Keegan said. 

“So they…?”

“No, the Ulsters,” Keegan said softly. “They believed Fenwick, that I was…that I was opening my legs to him and others.”

“But you weren’t!” Sansa protested.

“My parents know that but…what can they do?” Keegan sighed. “Now I am tainted for all others.”

“Oh Keegan,” Sansa sighed.


	34. 34

“That fucker!” Robb snapped after Jon told him what happened with Fenwick and Keegan.

“Aye,” Jon agreed. “To convince her to lay with him before marriage is one thing, but to make her available to another man like she was nothing...”

Robb threw his flagon across the room and it hit the wall with a thud.

“Robb, you need to...”

“I would have protected her and kept her...” 

“I know,” Jon said as he grasped his upper arm. “But Sansa and I thought you should be made aware.”

“Is she alright?” Robb asked, suddenly worried.

“Sansa said she’s fine physically, but obviously upset,” Jon said softly.

“Have the Ulsters taken responsibility for...?”

“No,” Jon said with a sigh. “They are taking Fenwick’s word that she was willing with him and the other man.”

“Of course they are!” Robb snapped. “Bastards!”

“So that’s the full story,” Jon sighed. “I’m sorry, Robb.”

“Aye, so am I,” Robb sighed.

Jon stood and walked toward the door to Robb’s room. When he reached for the handle, Robb called out to him.

“Thank you, Jon,” Robb said.

Jon turned and looked at him. “Sansa did all of the work.”

Robb nodded. Jon smiled back at him.

“You’re happy, married to her, aren’t you?” Robb asked.

Jon looked at Robb and his smile widened.

“I love her,” Jon said honestly. “I haven’t said yet, but I do.”

Robb smiled at his brother.

“She has been good for you,” Robb said quietly. “You seem...happier.”

“Aye, I am,” Jon answered truthfully.

“So all this...it was good, despite how it came about?”

Jon narrowed his eyes at Robb, he knew his brother well.

“Robb...” Jon warned.

“Thanks, Jon,” Robb said, dismissing him.

Jon nodded; he was pretty sure he knew what Robb was up to, but he was a man and could make his own choices.

“I’ll see you in the morning?” Jon asked with a smirk.

“Maybe,” Robb smiled back. “Have a good rest, Jon.”

“You as well,” Jon said softly.


	35. 35

As Jon had expected, Robb was not at breakfast the next morning. All of the House went into an uproar when they discovered that Keegan was missing as well.

“That idiot!” Ned Stark snapped at his wife where the Stark family had gathered. “He’s gone off with the girl.”

“Ned, I don’t think He would be…”

“He loves her,” Jon said, interrupting Lady Stark.

“Aye, but that’s no reason to throw his entire future away!” Ned snapped at his son. “He is my eldest son and as such he has a role to play and marriage is part of that.”

“Ned, maybe they just went away to talk,” Catelyn said as she touched his chest. “They’ll realize the foolish nature of this undertaking and…”

“Father, no one in the North will marry them without her father’s blessing,” Sansa noted. “And Lord Marsden was just as upset and surprised as all of us.”

“Aye, but there’s hand fastening,” Theon added.

Jon gave Theon a dark look, the last thing Lord and Lady Stark needed to think on was that.

“Why don’t we see if they are back by luncheon and if not, we go looking,” Jon said calmly. “If they have run off in the middle of the night they are probably hours away by now anyways and there’s no catching them.”

Ned nodded and looked toward his wife with a pained expression. “I have nothing against the girl herself, she seems like a fine enough lass. It’s her history with Fenwick that I…”

“Father, I think you need to know some more about that,” Sansa said before she delicately explained what had happened to Keegan.

“That poor girl!” Catelyn Stark gasped.

Ned just rubbed his beard and said nothing. Sansa knew her father objected vehemently to rape but the fact that Keegan had been willing with her betrothed would still not sit well with him.

Just then there was yelling at the gate and a call to open it. Jon could hear Robb’s voice in the distance.

“It’s them!” Jon called as he looked out the window at Robb and Keegan riding in on their horses.

The entire Stark clan ran downstairs to both greet and chastise them along with the Marsdens.

“I demand to know where you took my daughter!” Lord Marsden commanded as Keegan and Robb dismounted their horses.

They were dressed in riding clothes and her long golden brown hair was tied back in a ribbon. She was a shapely girl; smaller than Robb and barely reached his shoulder when they finally stood next to each other in the courtyard.

“We went…” Robb started.

“I went willingly Father,” Keegan said as she approached the man. “Robb and I had much to discuss and we did it while riding.”

“You just went for a ride?” Ned asked, confused.

“We did,” Keegan said as she met his eyes. 

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Robb said as he walked toward Keegan and took her hand in his. “I asked Keegan to be my wife.”

“You what?!” Lady Stark gasped.

Most people present started to break out into discussions and admonishments for their hast. 

“Keegan you can’t, not after…” Lady Marsden said as she approached the pair. “well, after everything with Fenwick.”

“I refused,” Keegan said as she turned to look at Robb. “I can’t marry Robb against the wishes of either of our families.”

All protests to the marriage suddenly stopped and the courtyard was deathly quiet.

“I want to marry her, Father,” Robb said as he met his father’s eyes. “I’ve always wanted to marry her. She should have been my wife by now.”

“But Robb, you have a duty to our House to…”

“The Marsdens are a noble house and a good ally,” Robb said as he turned toward Lord Marsden. “I know what happened with Fenwick, but that doesn’t make her any less in my eyes.”

Robb looked toward Keegan and smiled. 

“She will make a wonderful wife and the Houses a great alliance,” Robb said as he looked back toward his father. “The Marden’s have a fleet of ships and we’ll need them to outwit the Lannisters so Jon can sit on the Iron Throne.”

“But I haven’t agreed to…” Lord Marsden scoffed.

Keegan dropped Robb’s hand and walked toward her father. She touched his arm and looked softly into his eyes.

“I know you are ashamed of me, ashamed of what I did,” Keegan said as she looked at him and swallowed hard. “I am ashamed of my foolishness as well. I want to marry Robb and give you grandchildren, father. I want to make you proud again. And I want to help take back the Iron Throne for the North.”

Her father’s eyes suddenly softened and he touched her cheek. 

“You are my little bird,” he said as he looked at her. “If you can find happiness after so much turmoil, I will allow it. But only if Lord Stark is truly blessing this union.”

All eyes turned to Ned Stark. 

He looked at his proud son, standing tall in front of everyone asking for this woman. He looked at Keegan, her brown doe eyes scared and her porcelain skin pale and timid. Then he looked toward Catelyn and her pleading expression. He knew what his answer must be.

“You’ll marry in the godswood next month,” Ned said as he watched smiles break out on everyone’s faces. “Come to the harvest dinner in a weeks time and we’ll settle the arrangements.”

Keegan kissed her father on the cheek and ran to Robb who hoisted her up and hugged her fiercely; their happiness bursting for all around to see.

Jon felt Sansa’s hand entwine with his own and when he turned to look at her she was smiling.

“I love you, Jon,” she whispered as she leaned into him.

Jon turned her head toward him with one hand on her cheek and smiled at her before he gave her a soft kiss.

“And I love you,” he said before he kissed her once again.


	36. 36

“You have beautiful hair Agnes,” Sansa said as she brushed it. “But you need to comb it while it’s wet and braid it so it doesn’t fray.”

“I didn’t know that,” Agnes said with a smile as she fingered a lock. “It looks so much better this way.”

“And feel how soft your skin is with cream on it,” Sansa said as she smiled down at the girl.

“My mother didn’t tell me...” Agnes said as she touched her cheek.

“How long was she sick?” Sansa asked.

“She was sick most of my life,” Agnes admitted sadly. 

“I’m sorry,” Sansa said softly.

Agnes nodded and looked toward her hands.

“Now, what have you brought to wear tonight?” Sansa asked.

“I uh...” Agnes said as she rose from her chair and walked toward the wardrobe in the room. “This is my nicest.”

Sansa tried not to look appalled. It was a brown dress with yellow trim that had obviously been repaired a few times. 

“I’m not sure about the color,” Sansa said kindly. 

“Oh,” Agnes’ face fell.

“I have a burgundy dress...”

“I couldn’t fit half of my body in one of your...” Agnes gasped.

“It’s got a lot of give,” Sansa said as she walked toward Agnes. “And I think between the two of us we could manage some new sleeves.”

“Oh, I couldn’t...” Agnes started.

“I insist!” Sansa said as she took Agnes by the arm. “You need to make a good impression on Ruse.”

“Ruse?” Agnes asked, confused.

“Ruse Dwinnell’s parents have been talking to...” Sansa started.

“What?” 

“Oh gods,” Sansa gasped. “I thought you knew!”

“Knew what? I’m sorry my Lady, but what about Ruse?” Agnes asked, worried.

“I’m sorry I am the one to say but...but your father and the Dwinnells are making arrangements for the two of you to marry.”

Agnes looked so shocked Sansa took her by the arm and walked her to a nearby chair.

“Ruse Dwinnell?” Agnes asked, out of breath. “My Lady...”

“He’s a lovely man,” Sansa said kindly. 

“Of course.. of course...but...” Agnes said with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, my Lady, I should go and...”

“Agnes, I’m sorry you are so troubled,” Sansa said as she looked at the distraught girl. “I can speak to the Dwinnells and ask them to call it off.”

“No!” Agnes cried. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have...”

“Don’t...no need to apologize to me,” Sansa said truthfully. “You don’t wish to marry Ruse?”

“I...I’ve never considered it,” Agnes said quietly. “He’s so handsome.”

“You like him?” Sansa asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Agnes blushed and said nothing.

“I think we need to see about that dress,” Sansa said as she helped Agnes stand.

“Really?” Agnes asked excitedly.

“You are a lovely girl Agnes,” Sansa said with a smile. “You need to look as beautiful as you are.”

Sansa took her by the hand and dragged her from the room. Hours later they had the dress adjusted, sleeves made, and her hair done.

“What do you think?” Sansa asked as she turned Agnes to look at herself in the glass.

“Oh my,” Agnes gasped as she looked at herself. She looked beautiful. For the first time in her life she felt beautiful as well.

Agnes started to cry and Sansa reached for a handkerchief. 

“Oh no, don’t do that!” Sansa chuckled as she helped wipe away her tears. 

“I can’t help...” Agnes whimpered.

“It’s okay,” Sansa said as she hugged the girl closes. “It’ll be wonderful.”

“I don’t know...thank you so much my Lady,” Agnes blubbered.

“Oh Agnes,” Sansa sighed. “Let’s go have some fun.”

Sansa led Agnes downstairs to the dinner. When they entered the Great Hall Jon’s eyes caught Sansa’s and he looked at the girl next to her confused. She looked nothing like the girl Sansa had introduced him to earlier that day. Yet, it was her...

“Is that Agnes?” Arya asked Jon.

“I believe it is,” Jon whispered back. “It is, right Ruse?”

Ruse looked at Agnes slack-jawed and nodded. 

“She’s quite a pretty lass,” Jon said as he chuckled at Ruse’s reaction. “You’d be smart to agree to that marriage soon.”

“I hadn’t realized...” Ruse stammered.

“My wife has a way of bringing out the beauty,” Jon said nicely. “She’s a sweet girl, that Agnes.”

“Aye,” Ruse nodded. “We’ve spoken a few times but she looks so different...”

“Why don’t you go and escort her to her seat?” Jon asked him with a chuckle.

Ruse nodded and walked across the hall, bowed to Agnes and took her hand.

Jon took the opportunity to walk over to Sansa.

“Are you sure you aren’t a witch?” Jon whispered to her.

“Why ever would you think that?” Sansa asked with a giggle as she watched Ruse fall all over himself to help Agnes to her seat.

“Agnes looks amazing,” Jon said as he watched them. “Doesn’t even look like the same girl.”

“She was always in there,” Sansa said with a smile as they walked to their seats. “She never had a mother, not really...”

“That was very kind of you,” Jon said as he kissed her cheek.

“When you are in love,” Sansa said as she smiled at him. “You want the rest of the world to feel that way.”

Jon leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips; he agreed with every word.


	37. 37

Sansa woke to Jon kissing her neck.

“I thought you’d sleep longer,” she giggled as he hit a ticklish spot.

“I thought so as well,” Jon said against her skin. “You kept me up dancing most of the night.”

“Yes, and you had so much to drink with Robb and Theon and Ruse you needed help getting into our bed,” Sansa chided.

Jon nodded and chuckled. “Sorry about that.”

“Everyone was so happy,” Sansa smirked. “Ruse and Agnes talked all night.”

“Aye, they did,” Jon said as he ran his hand up and down her bare back.

“And the date has been set for Robb and Keegan’s wedding,” Sansa said with a smile. 

Jon nodded. He couldn’t remember the date, but he was sure Sansa would remind him at some point.

Jon kissed his way down her chest and took a nipple in his mouth.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Sansa asked.

“I hope so,” Jon said with a smile as he suckled her.

Sansa arched her back off the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck, parting her legs.

“If we don’t want a babe, you should probably not release your seed in me for the next few days,” Sansa said as he lined his cock up and started to enter her.

“Okay,” Jon sighed. She’s told him this before and no babe had come, so it was a good warning.

Jon slid in and out of her slowly. His head ached and his muscles were sore but he needed to be inside his wife. She writhed below him as he looked for that spot that brought her so much pleasure but was having trouble finding it with his cock. 

She met his thrusts and he took one of her legs and pushed it higher and higher until her foot was resting on his one shoulder.

“Oh gods!” Sansa moaned as the angle changed and his cock seemed to hammer into her.

“Good?” Jon asked, he’d never taken her leg and done that before.

Sansa nodded and licked her lips.

Jon continued to pound into her as she moaned and blushed below him. He was about to burst inside of her when he pulled out and let his seed flow onto the linens of their bed.

“Oh, Sansa,” he moaned as he rode out his pleasure. She wound her hands through his hair and kissed the side of his face as he finished bucking against their bed and his whole body relaxed.

“Do you feel better or worse for that?” Sansa asked as his breath slowed.

Jon sighed and turned his head to look into her eyes.

“Both?” He smiled at her.

Sansa laughed at his words and drew him against her.

“No, I’ll get you all...” Jon said as he pulled his hips back.

“I’m having a bath this morning,” Sansa said as she pulled him back against her; his wet sticky cock making contact with her thigh.

They lay like that for a long time just basking in their morning coupling and enjoying the peacefulness. 

“Jon,! Master Snout says you’ll have chores it you are not down in the courtyard in five minutes!” Robb said as he banged on their door.

“Fucking hell!” Jon said as he launched himself from their bed and then held his head at the motion.

“Jon, you’re not well,” Sansa said as she rose as well and walked toward him.

“Master Snout could care less,” Jon said as he quickly donned some grey breaches and shoved his feet into his boots.

“Jon, you can’t fight like this,” Sansa said as she watched him look around for a shirt he was prepared to make a mess of.

“I can and I will,” Jon said as he pulled a shirt over his head. “Or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

He felt his stomach lurch and ran to the empty chamber pot and vomited his stomach contents into it.

Sansa rubbed his back and consoled him as he did.

Jon wiped his mouth with a linen and stood, looking for a glass of water.

“Are you seriously...?” Sansa asked, angered as he reached for a glass, rinsed his mouth and spat in the chamber pot filled with vomit. 

“I’ll get the maid to come and clean that up,” Jon said before he donned his leather tunic and walked purposefully toward his sword.

“Honestly, you are so pig-headed sometimes!” Sansa said, following him around the room as he gathered his things.

He turned suddenly and pulled her against him. She was naked from head to toe and he couldn’t help take a minute to acknowledge that before he left.

Jon leaned forward and kissed her hard on the lips before he gave her bare ass a hard smack and leaned down to nip at her breast.

“Ow!” Sansa cried.

He gave her a wicked grin and then walked toward their door.

“I’ll see you at luncheon?” Jon called over his shoulder.

Sansa didn’t answer but instead crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed.

Jon stopped with his hand on the latch and turned to face her.

“I’ve only a minute until I need to be downstairs,” Jon said as he pleaded with his eyes. 

“Don’t get hurt,” Sansa conceded with a smile.

Jon smiled at her; all was settled. “I’ll try not to.”

Sansa watched him leave their chambers and turned to look at their messed bed. She wanted nothing more then to crawl back into it and smell Jon but, duty called. She had to entertain at breakfast.


	38. 38

“So Jamie Lannister marches with their army?” Catelyn asked at dinner. Their guests from the celebration had just left and it was just the family sitting for dinner.

“Aye,” Ned said.

“And we’re just sitting here?” Catelyn asked.

“No, tomorrow ravens go out to our allies and they will join us here at Winterfell,” Ned said.

“The Marsden’s just left as well as the...” Robb injected.

“I know son, but I didn’t realize they’d be back so soon when we parted,” Ned said to Robb.

Everyone at the table nodded but said nothing.

“You and the girls will have to leave,” Ned said before he took a drink.

“I’m not leaving Jon,” Sansa said with force.

“And I’m going to fight with you!” Arya cried.

“The battlefield is no place for a woman,” Catelyn told her daughters.

“It’s my decision if I stay,” Sansa explained. “Mine and Jon’s. And I will stay.”

“You are going where you’ll be safe,” Jon said as he turned to look at his wife.

“Jon, you can’t mean I’m to leave...” Sansa said, surprised.

“That’s exactly what I mean, Sansa,” Jon said with a certainty that made Ned proud. 

“No, you can’t make me,” Sansa said as she threw down her napkin and stood. “I am your wife! Not some servant you can order around!”

The room went deathly quiet as the Starks watched the very happy newlyweds have, what seemed to be, their first fight.

Jon slowly rose from his seat and stood toe to toe with her; she had forced his hand.

“If I have to tie you to a carriage myself, I will. You will be safe. ” Jon said with a menacing tone. “There will be no more discussion, Sansa, you are leaving Winterfell with your mother and Arya.”

Jon sat down in his chair and watched as his shocked wife marched out of the room without even looking back.

“It’s the right choice, son,” Ned said, trying to ease Jon’s mind.

“I know it is,” Jon said as he reached for his ale. “It’s Sansa who needs to realize that.”

“Great!” Arya snapped as she too threw down her napkin. “If her own husband won’t let her stay, there’s no bloody hope for me!”

“Arya!” Catelyn hissed.

Arya ran from the room and they heard a door slam at her exit.

Everyone one ate quietly for a few minutes before Robb spoke.

“Can I send Keegan with them for safety?” Robb asked.

“If her parents agree to it,” Ned nodded.

At the end of dinner Theon walked into the room with a bunch of scrolls under his arm. 

“They are all ready to go, my Lord,” he said as he placed them before Ned on the table.

Each Stark left grabbed a scroll and read it; they were calling in all of their brokered deals with all of the houses and asking them to assemble their men and come to Winterfell immediately. The army of the North was being assembled.

Jon put down his scroll and excused himself so he could find Sansa and talk with her about what had happened. When he got to their room the door was barred.

“Sansa, open the door,” Jon said as he knocked.

There was no answer.

“Sansa, open the door,” Jon asked again.

After several minutes of knocking and no response, Jon was getting incredibly annoyed.

“Open the bloody door Sansa, I mean it!” Jon yelled as he kicked at the wood door that didn’t budge.

“She’s locked you out?” Robb asked with a smirk as he came to the top of the stairs.

“Apparently,” Jon sighed.

“Well, my room is free for the time being,” Robb noted with a nod of his head. “I think Keegan and I will move in there after we are wed, but until then I’m staying in the East hall.”

Jon nodded and apologized under his breath to his brother; he knew exactly why Robb had moved and it had everything to do with the noise he and Sansa made when in bed together.

“You know Sansa, Jon,” Robb said before he turned to walk to his new room. “Give her a couple of days to stew...”

Jon nodded and waited for Robb to leave before he made one last attempt. 

“Sansa, you are my wife and we need to discuss this like adults, not behave like children,” Jon said to the door.

“I’m a child am I?!” Sansa yelled from the other side of the door.

“Thank gods,” Jon sighed. “Open the door so I can come in and stop talking to a bloody door.”

“I’m sorry, my child-like hands don’t know how to undo the lock!” Sansa yelled. “All I need is a man to make all my decisions for me because I’m just a fair maid without a brain!”

“I didn’t say that,” Jon said as he banged on the door. “But you placed me in a position where...”

“So, it’s all MY fault?!” Sansa cried from inside. 

“Yes, yes, it is your fault!” Jon yelled back. “If you had waited for us to discuss it alone, we could have talked, but you backed me against a wall and I had to make a decision.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Sansa called out.

“Do you know what’s ridiculous?!” Jon yelled as he smacked the door. “Talking to my wife through a bloody door! I’ll be in Robb’s old room until you get some sense in that pretty head of yours!”

Jon turned on his heel and walked across the hall to Robb’s old room, he went inside and slammed the door hard. That entire hallway shook with his anger.

Sansa crumpled to the floor in their bedroom and began to cry.


	39. 39

“Jon?” Sansa whispered as she tip-toed into Robb’s old bedroom. It was the dead of night and she had a plan.

“Sansa?” Jon asked groggily as he sat up in bed.

“I missed you,” Sansa said as she walked closer and closer to the bed.

“I’m sorry I yelled,” Jon said as he felt her hand reach out and touch his foot.

“And I’m sorry I placed you in that situation,” Sansa said quietly as she crawled up onto the bed.

Jon wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. 

Sansa laughed when she realized he’d missed his target.

She climbed on top of him and started to center herself over his manhood; he was sleeping naked so access was easy.

She lowered down onto him and they mutually sighed with satisfaction.

Jon ground himself against her and reached to hold onto her hips as she rocked against him.

“This is a nice way to make amends,” Jon sighed as he watched a sliver of moonlight cast itself across her chest.

“We need to talk things through in private,” Sansa said as she pushed into him. “We do so much better in private.”

Jon chuckled at her words and rolled them over so he was on top. He brought her feet up to his shoulders and pounded into her relentlessly as she cried out below him; he was hitting that spot that brought her so much joy again.

“Oh gods, Joooonnnn!” Sansa yelled as he emptied himself into her and cried out her name as well.

When he fell down onto the mattress next to her they were both a sweaty mess. He was heaving to get his breath and she was panting to get hers.

“Gods, I love you,” Jon said as he reached out and took her hand in his, bringing it to his mouth to kiss.

Sansa decided to strike while the iron was hot.

“Wouldn’t you miss this if I was sent away?”

“Of course I would,” Jon huffed.

“But if you didn’t send me away, I could warm you bed each night,” Sansa said as she drew circles around his nipples.

“What?” Jon asked, confused.

“You could have me whenever you wanted, and I know after a day in battle, you’d need someone to care for you to…”

“Sansa?” Jon asked, confused. “Why are you saying these things?”

“I want to stay at Winterfell with you,” Sansa admitted. “I want to care for you and ensure you are safe…”

Jon sat up suddenly in bed and looked down at her.

“Is that why you came to me tonight? Why you climbed on me? To convince me that I was wrong?” Jon asked, indignant.

“No, I did miss you,” Sansa said, half-heartedly.

“Sansa…”

“I knew if you…if you realized what would be lost…” Sansa admitted.

“Our marriage is about more than fucking,” Jon said as he launched himself from the bed and madly searched for his breeches. 

“I didn’t say it was…” Sansa said, startled by his anger.

“But you thought you could fuck me into agreement!” Jon yelled as he threw his legs into his breeches.

“I just thought…”

“I thought we had an honest marriage, one built on trust!” Jon snapped as he pulled his tunic over his head. “I’m not someone to be played by my own wife!”

"I wasn't playing you, Jon," Sansa said alarmed. "I was just trying to discuss..." 

"You thought my cock would change my mind," Jon said as he marched toward the door. 

"No, Jon..." Sansa begged as she walked quickly toward him. 

"You are going away from Winterfell for your own safety as well as mine!” Jon yelled at her. “Because if any man harmed you in any way, I’d hunt him down and kill him, kingdoms be damned, throne be damned.”

“Jon, please...”

“Take this room tonight and I’ll go to ours,” Jon said as he massaged his forehead. “I’ll stay here until you go. Don’t you ever try this again, Sansa!”


	40. 40

Sansa stood next to her horse wondering how she could make this better before she left.

For three nights they’d slept separately, spoken little, ate awkwardly, and made everyone around them uncomfortable. Jon didn’t even seem to mind; but the deterioration of their relationship haunted her sleep and churned her stomach.

Jon spoke privately for quite some time with Arya as Mother fussed over Robb and Father double checked their supplies. 

Finally, he came to her but stood back as he spoke with her. 

“You’ll see that Arya doesn’t get herself into any trouble?” 

“If that’s what you ask of me,” Sansa said sourly. 

Jon hesitated and then nodded. “I do.” 

“Then, I will,” Sansa nodded before she raised her foot to mount. 

“Sansa…” Jon said quietly. 

Sansa turned and looked at him surprised, she was sure he was going to be happy to see the back of her. Jon stepped forward and took her by the back of the neck and pulled her against him for a searing kiss. She melted into him and felt suddenly like the world was right again. 

When they parted he brushed a hair off her cheek.

“Take care of yourself as well,” Jon said with a small smile. “I need you to come back to.” 

“I’m so so sorry, Jon,” Sansa cried as tears escaped her eyes. “I wish I could take it all back and….” 

“Sansa…“ 

“No, please let me,” Sansa said as she pulled him away from everyone else. “It was wrong what I did, and I will never, ever, do something like that again. That I can promise you. ” 

Jon looked at her and smiled.

“I love you, Sansa,” Jon said as he took her hands in his. “You scared me when you tried to manipulate me. I thought…” 

“What?” Sansa asked. 

“It left me wondering what else was a manipulation…” 

“Nothing!” Sansa cried. “Everything we have is true. No manipulation, Jon. I promise you that as well. ” 

Sansa took his face in both her hands and looked him squarely in the eyes. 

“I love you,” She said sincerely. “Please don’t punish me for one foolish mistake.” 

Jon leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. 

“Forgive me?” Sansa asked as she’s clung to him. 

“Aye, you’re forgiven,” Jon smiled at her. 

She jumped into his arms and clutched him tight while he and everyone else in the courtyard chuckled at her antics. 

“Promise you’ll be safe?” Sansa asked.

“I’ll do my best,” Jon laughed. 

“I want many years with you Jon,” Sansa whispered into his ear. “Our story doesn’t end yet.” 

Jon couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips with those words. 

“You need to go so you take advantage of the light,” Jon said as he took her hand and led her to her horse. 

Sansa hugged him once more before she mounted. 

She left with her mother, Arya and their guards for Bear Island. They were going to safety while he was going into danger; it hardly seemed fair. 

Sansa turned just before the gates shut and saw Jon wave at her. She smiled and then he was gone.


	41. 41

Jon,

I am sorry that the Lannister army has taken up residence in the North so close to our home. I am also sad to hear that the negotiations between Father and Jamie Lannister have not gone well and they still refuse to acknowledge your claim-you would be a much better King than the one currently sitting on it. I am happy, however, that no one has started fighting as that keeps you safe. It keeps all Northmen safe.

It has been two months since we parted and, although here is welcoming, it’s not home. It’s not Winterfell. It’s not where you are. I feel like I should be doing something to help, so Mother and I (and Arya, quite reluctantly) have started sewing furs together that we hope to send to you and your men for the long winter. We know Winterfell has enough stocks to last well into next year but Mother and Arya and myself hope that we won’t be apart until then.

I sometimes wish we had started to march the Northern Army to King’s Landing instead of them coming to us, maybe all would have been closer to a resolution now?

I miss you and have news that Mother thinks I shouldn’t share until we see each other again. But I can’t wait and if this does carry on into next year, I fear the news will never reach your ears. Remember our last night together? Let’s try and forget what has been forgiven, but we need to remember that we didn’t exercise caution. 

I’m with child, Jon. 

I’m not sure how you feel about this, as it is rather soon into our marriage and something we have actively tried to avoid. Personally, I am quite happy. He has made me very ill, but Mother says that’s a good sign of a strong child. I do hope you are as happy as I am about this news and I hope this can make that night a better one in your memory. 

I wish I could have told you this personally and seen your face, spoke about it as expectant parents should but, that is not how our world works. Please let me know what you think of this Jon, I await your next raven.

Keep safe and give Father and Robb my love as well.

Love, Sansa


	42. 42

Jon replies…

 

Sansa,

I just received your raven and have shared the news with Father, Robb, and Theon and we are all overjoyed. My love, I will only think on that night with the happiest of memories because we created our child in that moment. 

Our child. He will have your beauty and my strength. He will be ours Sansa and no time is better than now for us to bring a child into this world. Negotiations are going well and evidence has been presented that solidifies my claim. Whether it’s accepted or not, is another story. 

We have word the Tyrells are coming North with a party as are the Greyjoys and the Tullys. I am hoping this can be resolved without any man lost on either side but only time will tell. 

Please keep the ravens coming as they are my greatest joy. Keep our child safe and take care of yourself my love. 

Jon

 

“What does Jon have to say?” Arya asked her sister.

“He’s happy about the babe,” Sansa sighed as she re-read the short letter. Jon was never a man of many words so she has had to be satisfied with short correspondence from him.

“What about the negotiations?” Arya asked, more interested in that.

“He says they are going well and that the Tyrells, Greyjoys and Tullys are also coming to the North to talk,” Sansa explained.

“They must be taking his claim seriously if they are all coming North in the cold,” Arya said with a smile.

“Good point,” Sansa nodded. 

Arya watched her sister studying the letter.

“What does he say about the babe?” Arya asked, knowing that’s what her sister really wanted to discuss.

“He hopes it has my looks and his strength,” Sansa said, meeting her eyes.

“If this goes on into the summer you may get away with him not seeing you fat at all,” Arya said. “You’ll have the babe by then”

“What a thing to say!” Sansa laughed. “Jon would be happy to see me with our child, fat or not.”

“If you say so,” Arya laughed with her sister.

“What are you two on about?” Catelyn Stark asked as she walked into the room with some pelts over her arm.

“I got a raven from Jon,” Sansa explained as she handed it to her mother for her to read.

Catelyn dropped the pelts and read the letter quickly. Then she smiled.

“I told you he would be happy with the babe,” Catelyn said as she handed the letter back to her daughter. 

“That’s good news about the Tullys and the Tyrells and the Greyjoys isn’t it mother?” Arya asked.

“Yes, it is,” Catelyn nodded. “Your father is well liked and respected by those Houses…they will hear Jon’s claim.”

“Do you think we’ll be back by the thaw?” Sansa asked expectantly.

“I think you need to eat more soup and take care of that babe, the next heir, and allow the men to settle matters,” Catelyn said as she sat down next to her daughter. “Jon will be happy if you are back before the birth or if you present his son to him months from his birth. Securing the throne is what matters right now.”

Sansa nodded in agreement but couldn’t help but hope Jon would be there for the birth of his first child.


	43. 43

Jon,

I have just been made aware that Arya has written to you and said that I look like I’m carrying two babes because I seem so fat. I can assure you that there is just one babe inside and Mother says I look normal for a woman 6 moons pregnant. Arya is just being mean. Months of being housed so closely are starting to get to us all. It’s the dead of winter, I’m pregnant, and I only have my sister, my mother and a couple of maids to keep me company. I know this is a petty complaint so I will stop now, as you are dealing with much more important matters. Let’s just say I miss you, and I miss my freedom.

I am glad to hear that the Tullys immediately sided with Father and You upon arrival. I hope the Greyjpoys and Tyrells come to the same conclusion soon and I can return to Winterfell and to you. I hope your men have found use for all of the furs we have made; mother had us working day and night on them. 

It’ s a cold winter and my bed is empty and chilly without you to wrap your arms around me (however much more of me there is now). The babe kicks and pushes around inside me. Arya says she can’t feel it when I make her place her hand on my belly, but mother smiles and nods and says she can. I think Arya is just been petty because she doesn’t want to please me.

I hope this letter finds you well, my Love and that we will be together very soon. Please share my love with Father and Robb. Know that each day you negotiate is a day closer to us being together again. 

Love,

Sansa


	44. 44

Jon smiled down at the letter before him and re-read it several times before he looked up to see what the argument across the yard was about. The letter had come two weeks ago but nothing since, so he kept it with him to re-read whenever the feeling struck, until Sansa’s next letter arrived.

It was unlike her to wait so long between letters but Jon assumed she was busy. He wished he could write better letters to her. His were short and plain compared to hers. In the last one he’d sent, he asked for her to describe what she looked like full with his babe. It now seemed like such a ridiculous request and he wished he could take those words back.

“So you are saying the Lannisters think we aren’t people of our word?” Theon yelled as he pushed a man belonging to the Lannister army.

“No!” The man yelled and pushed back. “I’m saying we always leave a man to guard Jamie Lannister’s horse when he is on hostile land.”

“What’s the issue?” Jon asked as he approached the group.

“This fucker says Jamie Lannister’s horse is unsafe in our stables!” Theon yelled.

Jon looked toward the soldier. Father and Jamie Lannister were having a private meeting right now; about what Jon and no one else were privy. It seemed rather ridiculous to have a guard for your horse, but Jon didn’t see why it was such a big deal.

“He can stay with the bloody horse,” Jon said to Theon quietly. “What difference does it make to any of us?”

Theon looked at Jon as if he had betrayed him.

“It’s a horse, Theon,” Jon reminded him.

Theon sighed and looked toward the guard. 

“Fine, but you clean up after it and feed it from your own stores!” Theon ordered before he walked away from the pair of them.

“He’s a bit of a hot head, that one,” the soldier noted to Jon.

“You have no idea,” Jon sighed before his attention was drawn to Jamie Lannister sending a raven off the battlements.

“What the devil?” Jon whispered.

“Why’s he doing that?” The soldier next to Jon asked.

Jon just looked at the soldier and shook his head. He then spotted Father standing near Jamie with a dour expression on his face. Whatever that raven was about couldn’t be good.

“Jon!” Father called down to him. “Please meet me and Ser Jamie in my solar.”

Jon nodded and walked quickly toward his Father’s solar. He sensed dread in his bones; there was going to be a battle and all this negotiation was probably for naught.

Jon knocked on his father’s door and waited to be called inside. When he walked in, he knew his dread was well founded. Ser Jamie had probably just sent word to King Joffrey that negotiations had stopped.

“Jon, sit down,” Father said as a maid handed him a cup of wine and then was quickly dismissed.

Jon felt his heart racing until he saw that Ser Jamie also looked upset, and suddenly nothing made sense.

“Son, I have no easy way to tell you this so I’m just going to say it,” his Father began as he walked toward him.

“Father?” Jon asked as he looked up at his Father and felt his large hand clamp down on his shoulder.

“Sansa has been poisoned,” his Father said.

The words swirled around in Jon’ head for a moment before he really heard them. The next thing Jon heard was the goblet that was in his hand hitting the stone floor by his feet.


	45. 45

“You need to read this son,” Ned said as he thrust a letter into Jon’s hand and walked away from the lad.

Jon looked at the page and couldn’t make his eyes focus. He squinted and adjusted the page but no matter what he did, he couldn’t make sense of the words on it. 

Jamie Lannister stood from his chair and took the letter from Jon’s hands, he read the missive from Catelyn Stark aloud.

“Ned,

I am sending this raven in hast as I need you and Jon to know immediately what has happened although I have little information to share. Today Arya found Sansa on the floor of her chambers, she was unconscious and had some foam coming from her mouth. Arya screamed and everyone came running. Sansa was dressed for the day so we can only assume she was not there for long. 

The Maester immediately gave her an exam and determined from the smell of the bit of liquid left in her tea that she was poisoned. He gave Sansa some medicine hours ago but she has yet to awaken. We are worried for her and the babe in her belly.” 

Jamie paused. He had no idea Sansa Targaryen was pregnant, but who ever did this obviously knew that piece of information. He had read the letter already when Ned Stark showed it to him, but there was something about reading it aloud to the father,,,the husband...that made it especially difficult. He swallowed hard and continued.

“The Maester is examining her again as I send this, and Arya has not left her side since finding her. One of our maids has disappeared and it looks like she was involved in the plot and that it may be...”

Jamie paused here and looked down at the shocked young man who hadn’t moved the entire time he read. He cleared his throat and continued.

“...Lannister in nature. I don’t know if our sweet girl will live or die in the coming hours...all I know is that I needed to tell you and Jon. Cat”

Jamie rolled the letter and placed it on a table next to Jon.

“I am not involved,” Jamie said truthfully. “I hadn’t a clue she was pregnant and I truthfully don’t even know where you have sent her. I am sorry for this. I have...”

“Arghhhhh!” Jon screamed as he launched himself at Jamie Lannister.

Jamie, caught off guard by the statue that was before him coming to life so suddenly stumbled back and both men fell to the floor wrestling.

“Jon!” Ned cried as he tried to pull him off Jamie. Jon was punching Jamie with all his might causing his nose to bloody and his eye to redden.

“Jon!” Ned yelled as he hurled his son away from their guest. Jon landed in a heap against the wall and Jamie scuttled backwards towards a chair to get himself back to standing.

Jon rose to his feet and was about to attack again when Ned punched him hard in the stomach causing him to double over and vomit on the floor.

“Sit the fuck down!” Ned yelled at his son and then turned to see Jamie grab hold of a chair as he wiped blood from his lip.

“I’m sorry for that Jon, but you need to stop beating up a man who is obviously not involved in what has happened to Sansa!” Ned roared.

“How do you know that?!” Jon screamed at his father.

“Because of the look on his face when I showed him the letter and the fact that he’s already sent an owl to his brother to try and figure out who is behind this plot!”

“Sansa has been poisoned!” Jon yelled. “And you are trusting the Lannisters!”

“I think it’s Joffrey,” Jamie said honestly. “And if it is...if he failed to adhere to the rules of fair negotiation...he is a King I will not follow.”

“Your word means nothing to me!” Jon yelled as he stood up and nursed his abdomen with his movement. “I need to go to...”

“You are going nowhere,” Ned said with authority. “If you go anywhere near where they are, you give up their location to everyone who wants to harm them. I will not have you place them at risk!”

“Your uncle is right,” Jamie nodded.

Jon looked between the two men. “But Sansa...”

“You will have more information about her if you stay here,” Ned said as he approached Jon. “If she is...gone...you are serving your people better by staying here.”

Jon turned from the two men and looked out the window. His vision fogged over with the tears that filled his eyes.

“I’ll go to my room and give you some time,” Jamie said as he stood from his chair and started to leave.

“I’ll alert you when a raven arrives from your brother,” Ned said as he watched the man leave.

When the door shut behind Jamie Lannister, Jon started to shake and sob at the same time.

“Son,” Ned said as he pulled Jon into his large frame and hugged him tight.

Jon went boneless in his Father’s arms and incoherent words fell from his lips.


	46. 46

“Give it to me,” Arya said as she snatched a cloth from the maid and wiped her sister’s brow.

“The babe is dead,” the Maester said as he raised his ear from Sansa’s bare belly.

“Are you sure?” Catelyn Stark asked, worried.

Sansa heard the words and starts to whimper. She was barely conscious, going in and out of mad dreams and terrors as she woke and slept, woke and slept. It was almost midnight and after hours of uncertainty about her health and the babe’s, the poison had claimed it’s first victim.

“We need to get the babe out of her so she doesn’t get a fever or the poison that’s in the babe doesn’t leave it and go into her body,” the Maester explained.

“No…” Sansa moaned as her hands gripped her belly with a strength no one had seen all day.

“How?” Catelyn asked.

“I give her a tea that will start labour and she’ll deliver the dead babe,” the Maester explained.

“How can she deliver a baby? She’s barely awake?!” Arya snapped.

“We’ll have to help her,” Catelyn said as she eyed the Maester. “You and I will have to push down on the belly to make the babe come out.”

“What?!” Arya asked.

“It’s the only way,” Catelyn said as she exchanged glances with with the Maester. “We need to give her the best chance to live and have more babes. This one is already lost.”

Sansa whimpered and fresh tears poured out of her eyes.

“She doesn’t want that mother,” Arya said as she looked at her sister.

“She’s been poisoned Arya!” Catelyn hissed. “She doesn’t know what she needs or wants!”

Arya, taken aback by her mother’s anger said nothing in return. She watched the Maester administer the tea, she watched her mother and the one remaining maid ready Sansa and the bed she was in for the birth, she watched her sister get stripped naked and laid out with her legs wide, and she watched Sansa’s belly start to harden and release at an almost rhythmic pace. The entire time Sansa went from sleeping to waking, whimpering to crying, listless to screams.

“She’s ready,” the Maester said as he pulled his fingers from her sister’s opening. He had used instruments that came out bloody as well.

It all seemed so invasive to Arya. Everyone was doing these things to Sansa, making decisions for her, invading her body with instruments and fingers, and she was none the wiser. It turned Arya’s stomach.

“I have cut her so it’s easier,” the Maester said to Catelyn. “Now I need you both to push down and out after her stomach hardens each time.”

“Mother…” Arya started but was stopped by a murderess glare from her mother.

Arya looked down at her sister who was currently unconscious and leaned over to kiss her forehead before she got in position with her mother. Sansa’s stomach hardened and they pushed.

“Harder!” The Maester called.

“We’ll harm…” Arya started.

“The babe is dead Arya, there’s no one to be harmed,” Catelyn said as she touched Arya’s shoulder.

Another hardening and they pushed. The process continued again and again until the Maester told them to stop. At this point Sansa had fat tears seeping from her eyes like faucets, she was mumbling Jon’s name and the word ‘baby’ over and over again.

Arya wiped her sister’s brow and spoke kind words to her as the Maester pulled the dead babe from her and handed the child to her mother.

“It was a boy,” Catelyn said as some tears escaped her eyes.

Arya looked up from her sister to the tiny child with a tuft of dark black hair sitting in her mother’s hands. He wasn’t much larger than her hands and he was red and purple and pale and…dead.

Arya looked away quickly and wiped at the tears pouring from her eyes. He would have looked just like Jon, she knew that in her heart and that broke her even more.

“Oh Sansa,” Arya cried as she hugged her sister tight. She asked her sister to stay strong, to help herself, to come back to them, to come back to Jon, to have more babes…she asked every God she knew the name of to help her sister as the Maester pulled out the after birth, stitched her back up and applied leeches all over her naked body. 

When Arya finally looked up from her sister she saw the Maester leaving the room and her mother sitting and holding her first grandchild, despite his death, and rocking him in a chair. His little cold body was cuddled into her frame as she sang soft songs and asked the gods to care for his innocent soul.


	47. 47

“Jon, you’ll catch your death out here,” Robb said as he walked out on the battlements where Jon was hunched over waiting for news of his wife and child.

Jon just gave him a dark look and said nothing.

“Sansa would want you to…” Robb started.

“She could be dead Robb!” Jon snapped at his brother.

“And she could be alive!” Robb snapped back. “She’d want you to remain alive as well!”

“Fuck off,” Jon said as he shifted and turned his back to his brother.

“I won’t,” Robb replied. He sat down next to Jon and handed him an extra fur he brought.

Jon begrudgingly took the fur and said nothing.

They sat in silence as the darkness fell over Winterfell. Jon kept thinking in his head that by the time he got word, what happened had happened three days ago. It was a three day trip by raven from Bear Island to Winterfell so Sansa and the babe could be long dead by now, all that he could do was read the letter and then know what everyone on Bear Island had known for three days. Just like three days ago they had known she had been poisoned while he sat in negotiations with the families and argued with Theon over chess…his wife and babe were suffering. 

“I did this,” Jon said, cutting the silence that had lasted for hours between the brothers.

“You poisoned her?” Robb inquired.

“No, but she wanted to stay at Winterfell…I sent her away.”

“You thought we’d go into battle and not negotiate for months…” Robb supplied.

“This would have never happened at Winterfell,” Jon said as he shifted his back. 

“Anyone who wanted to do this would have done it wherever she was,” Robb explained. “Jon, you…”

“I would have been here to help her, to…to…”

“Aye, that part is true,” Robb agreed. “But if we had gone into battle…if she had been harmed…would you not have cursed yourself for not sending her away?”

Jon gave him another dark look and said nothing.

“Jon, the truth is…you made a choice based on what you thought would happen,” Robb said. “You chose safety for your wife and child. You made a good decision; a decision any man would have made. You couldn’t see what was to come…no one could.”

“But maybe the best way to keep my family safe is to keep them with me,” Jon said softly.

“Jon, I think that…”

Just then a raven cawed in the distance and both men rose quickly to their feet. It had been almost a full day since the last raven from Catelyn Stark.

The raven landed on the battlements and Jon quickly untied the scroll despite his frozen fingers and the raven’s twitchy nature. The scroll was addressed to him and bore the Stark seal.

He walked with Robb toward a torch and looked down at the words. Again though, his eyes couldn’t focus, he saw letters and symbols but none of them made sense. He squinted and, when nothing helped after a moment, he handed the scroll to Robb as his heart thumped rapidly inside his chest.

Robb took off his gloves and held the scroll close to the torch. He read the letter aloud to Jon.

“Jon,

I am saddened to put these words to the page but I need to tell you that your child is lost. It was a beautiful boy, too young to breathe his own air and too sick with poison to beat his own heart. He was small and had black hair much like yours.” 

Jon’s hand went to his mouth and a muffled cry escaped his lips. Robb swallowed hard and continued.

“He was already lost and needed to be taken out of Sansa so she wouldn’t get more poison from him or a fever, but she is still fighting for her life. The Maester hopes that the leeches and medicines he gives her will rid her body of the poison. Only time will tell. I will write again as soon as anything changes. I am so sorry for this and I pray for you and my daughter every moment. Catelyn”

“Jon, I…I’m so sorry,” Robb said as he rolled the scroll back up.

Jon nodded and took the scroll from his brother. He was able to focus now as he read and re-read the words over and over again. His son was dead. His son. His son who looked just like him. Sansa was still in danger. She could also die. He could be left with nothing. He could lose everything. He may have already lost everything, he reminded himself, three days ago he could have lost everything and still not know it yet.

Jon numbly slid his back down the rock wall behind him, the scroll clutched in his hand.

“Tell my father there’s been a message,” Robb ordered the guard that was standing near the stairs.

He slid down the rock wall next to Jon and wrapped a protective arm around his brother. No tears happened, only silence. Deafening, horrible silence.


	48. 48

“It’s from your brother,” Ned Stark said as he took the scroll from the raven. It had a Lannister seal.

 

Jon was standing next to him hoping it was about Sansa’s condition. It had been 12 days since they got word of the poisoning and he’d only had one raven since the news their child had died. All it said was that Sansa was responding well but was still in grave danger. 

 

Jon had sent half a dozen missives to Bear Island inquiring about her and still had not received a response. At night he wandered the halls worrying about his wife, in the day he did hard labour around Winterfell to forget.

 

Negotiations had been postponed in the wake of the poisoning and most people seemed to sympathize that nothing could be done until this hateful crime was dealt with.

 

Ned Stark handed the scroll to Jamie Lannister and the Starks watched him open it and read it before he sighed and handed it to Ned Stark who read it aloud.

 

“Brother,  
I have made some inquiries and it appears your assumption it was Joffrey is correct. I wish I could say differently, as I know this changes a great deal for you and me both. I am leaving with this letter and would like to meet with you at the Neck in a month to discuss what we are to do with the Lannister army.   
Tyrion Lannister”

 

“That’s all?” Robb asked as he looked between his father and Jamie Lannister.

 

“It’s quite a lot, son,” Ned said as he handed the missive back to Jamie.

 

“The Lannister Army will not follow a mad King, even if he is my…nephew,” Jamie said sadly as he looked at the letter, wondering why Tyrion said nothing of Cersai.

 

“Why would Joffrey poison Sansa? Why not me?” Jon asked.

 

“She was housing the future of the Targaryen line,” Jamie said simply. “If you were to die and the babe live…”

 

“The line still lived,” Jon finished for him.

 

“That and Joffrey always felt jilted for being denied Sansa as a bride,” Jamie added.

 

“Denied?” Jon and Robb asked as they looked to their father.

 

“Aye,” Ned nodded. “They wanted her and I refused.”

 

This was information Jon and Robb had never heard before.

 

“Because of me?” Jon asked his father pointedly.

 

“Yes,” Ned answered honestly. “That, and he was a mad King, no offense Ser Jamie, even then.”

Jamie merely nodded and said nothing.

Just then another raven arrived.

“From Lady Stark?” Jon asked as he Ned undid the scroll.

“Aye, and it’s addressed to you, son,” Ned said as he handed Jon the scroll.

Jon suddenly didn’t want to open it. Catelyn Stark had only written him directly with word of his son’s death, perhaps this was word of his wife’s?

Jon closed his eyes, broke the seal and looked down to see Arya’s unruly script before his eyes.

Jon,

Sansa has recovered, mostly, from the poison. The Maester thinks that the babe took most of it and she was spared only because she was with child. She’s inconsolable at the loss of the baby and mother fears she may do herself harm, so were are with her all the time. She calls to you often and we’ve tried to explain why you must stay away…please write to her as I think it will lift her spirits. Mother has read the missives your have sent, but something just for her would be nice.

Know that we are taking the best care of her, and as soon as the negotiations are complete, you need to come to her. She needs you more than she does us. The maid who was involved in the plot has been captured and Mother has sent a man with information to Father as she isn’t sure she can trust ravens completely.

Please know that I love you and love my sister and will keep her safe for you until you can be here yourself.

Love,

Arya

Jon re-read the letter once more before he handed it to his father with a smile. Sansa wanting to harm herself was concerning, but she was out of harms way for now.

“She’s recovered,” Jon said to the group, a small laugh with his words.

Robb pulled him into a hug and Jamie breathed a sigh of relief as Ned took the letter and started to read it.

“It’s from Arya,” Ned said as he read.

“I’m off to write Sansa,” Jon said as he pulled back from his brother.

The men watched the young Targaryen walk away with a huge smile. Jon had not been Jon for weeks, now; the loss of his child and the possibility of losing his wife had changed him. Knowing his wife was recovered, made a difference.

“We need to re-open negotiations,” Ned said.

“I have to confirm with Tyrion, but I think we’re going to back Jon Targaryen,” Jamie said with authority. “Now, we need to discuss what to do with the King.”


	49. 49

Sansa sat and looked out the window at the frosty cold day. She had been allowed to be up and about for days but all she wanted to do was lay in bed and cry. She sat up for the sake of her mother and Arya; they worried for her.

She’d lost her son; her one tie to Jon. Her chance to be a mother. Her chance that was stolen by that horrible maid who poisoned her.

No one could give her back her boy. No child after him would replace him. She felt barren inside and out and had no energy to do...anything.

“Sansa, there’s a letter from Jon,” Arya said as she walked into the room with the scroll.

Sansa looked toward her sister’s worried face and nodded toward the table; she wasn’t interested in the letter right now.

“Aren’t you going to read it?” Arya asked as she held on to it.

Sansa just sighed and looked back out the window. She’d gotten several letters from Jon and they had all sat until someone finally got frustrated and read them to her. 

He spoke of how much he was saddened by the loss and how happy he was she was alive and healthy. He spoke of how much he wished he could be there with her, helping her, but how he could not. Finally, he spoke of his love for her and how, one day, they would have another babe for her to love.

What he failed to understand was that she didn’t want another babe; she wanted this one.

“Fine,” Arya said as she tore open the scroll and looked toward her sister. “I may as well read it for you.”

Sansa closed her eyes.

Sansa,

Arya has written me that she is quite worried for you. My love, please eat. Please sleep. Please walk and take part in the day. It is not going to help you to stay in bed all day crying. I too miss our son. He was made out of love and would have been raised in love. He was too good for this world we find ourselves in and we weren’t allowed to keep him. 

I’m sure I cannot begin to understand what you, his mother, are feeling. But know that I have cried for our son. I have stayed up nights thinking about him. I have started to leave to go to you a dozen times and only stopped because I couldn’t bare to risk your life after just getting you back. 

Even if you don’t wish to do these things for yourself, do them for me until I can be with you again. Eat food as if I am feeding you myself. Walk around and pretend I am next to you holding your arm. Sleep and feel my arms wrapped around your middle, holding you tight. Until I can be with you, I rely on you to do these things for me. 

I remain ever yours,

Jon

“See?!” Arya snapped. “He wants you to care for yourself!”

Sansa looked toward her sister and smiled a slight smile.

“He loves you and it is killing him that you are allowing yourself to...”

“Thank you, Arya,” Sansa said softly.

“Fine,” Arya snapped as she threw the scroll down on the table and marched out of the room.

Sansa listened to the door shut and reached for the scroll next to her. She unraveled it and read it several times, hearing Jon’s voice in her head. She couldn’t do this to him, he had enough on his mind. Sansa needed to give him some reassurances that she was fine.

For the first time in weeks Sansa reached for a quill and a piece of paper. She needed to tell her husband that he didn’t need to worry about her; he needed to establish a kingdom and come home to her so they could mourn and move on together.


	50. 50

Jon,

Please be assured that I am fine. I know Arya has sent you a missive stating the opposite, but know that I have recovered. I’m still at a loss about our son but have decided to put aside my grief until we are together, because I feel it may consume me otherwise.

How are negotiations? You say Tyrion Lannister is joining you and I hope that is a good thing. I understand he is a brilliant strategist and if he is not on our side, gods help us. Know that I have faith in you and father and Robb to settle the throne and decide what needs to be done about Joffrey.

The long night stretches forward and I miss you and Winterfell each day. Mother wants to take the life of the maid who poisoned me but I feel she must have been led into this action, for what maid decides to do this on her own? Mother awaits Father’s decision but I believe she sharpens her axe daily.

I will end here with further reassurances that from this day onwards I will eat, I will drink, I will breath fresh air, and I will speak. I do this all for you my love. For our future. For the North.

Ever Your Committed Wife,

Sansa


	51. 51

“Cersai will not allow it,” Tyrion said as they all sat to discuss a plan.

“She’ll have to if the entire kingdom no longer backs their King,” Jamie commented.

“He may be King, but she holds the keys to the kingdom,” Tyrion said.

“She controls the lad with her father,” Lord Mormont noted.

“Was she the one who ordered Sansa’s poisoning?” Jon demanded.

“Joffrey, technically gave the order,” Tyrion said as he exchanged a glance with Ned Stark.

“And she suggested it?” Jon asked.

“Probably,” Tyrion acknowledged.

Jon looked toward Jamie, who couldn’t hold his gaze.

“They both are just as guilty then,” Jon said through gritted teeth. “Of trying to kill my wife and of killing my son.”

“Jon,” Ned warned.

“The babe wasn’t technically born yet,” Jamie pointed out.

“Does it make him any less my son?!” Jon yelled.

“Of course it doesn’t,” Ned said as he touched Jon’s shoulder and looked toward the others. “The loss is great and true.”

“And they will be held accountable,” Tyrion said as he eyed Jamie carefully. 

“I can guarantee that, Lord Lannister,” Jon said through gritted teeth. 

“Jon, don’t be rash,” Ned warned. “We will see to it.”

“Cersai...” Jamie started.

“Don’t try and defend your sister,” Jon warned.

“As you defend yours!” Jamie snapped.

“She’s my wife and my cousin, I will remind you,” Jon pointed out as he stepped toward the taller man.

“Gentlemen!” Ned said as he stepped between the two of them. 

“Instead of arguing with each other, why don’t we spend our energy hatching a plan to take back the throne,” Tyrion noted.

“I agree,” Ned said as he watched Jon step away and turn his back to the group of men.

“Now, we need to convince the Lannister army to listen to my brother and not my father,” Tyrion noted.

“How do we know he’s not sending messages to them? Telling them of our plans? He defends his sister and everyone knows the mad King is his son!” Jon snapped as he turned toward the men. 

Lord Manderly nodded as did the Greyjoys.

“By birth Joffrey is a Baratheon,” Tyrion reminded them as he watched his brother grow angrier by the moment.

“And that doesn’t change the fact that Ser Jamie Lannister has sired the boy,” Lord Umber noted.

“The army will not follow Tyrion, but they will follow me,” Jamie said as he looked toward the group. “But I will not lead to kill my sister and the King. They are to be captured and tried or I will not lead.”

The many Lords at the meeting exchanged glances and nods. There were some murmurs and they all looked toward Ned and nodded in agreement. Ned looked toward Jon fuming at his side and knew this decision would not please him, but it was the only way.

“They will be tried, fairly,” Ned said as he watched Jon huff in anger and stand a little taller. 

Robb placed a hand on Jon’s shoulder and he shrugged it off angrily.

“I promise that I will not inform anyone of our plans,” Jamie said as he met Jon’s eyes. “I want a mad King on the throne no more than you do. But they are also my family and I will not lead an army to slaughter them.”

Jon nodded abruptly and walked angrily from the room. He did understand exactly why Jamie needed this, but it didn’t take away the boiling pit that was his stomach.


	52. 52

Their army was assembled and ready to march on King’s Landing in one week’s time. Jon walked next to Robb as they inspected their troops.

“The Lannister army is spectacular,” Robb commented.

“They certainly look flashy,” Jon groaned as he looked a the matching uniforms and swords.

“No wonder they were able to take so many Castles, do you see their swords?”

“Aye, the finest quality,” Jon said as he eyed the tents; even they matched the uniforms. “Lannister money buys a lot.”

“Our Northern men will look like Wildlings compared to this lot,” Robb surmised.

“Yes, but they have the skill of ten Lannister soldiers,” Jon said as he looked at Robb carefully. “I’d rather have Northmen next to me then this lot.”

“Well, you’ll have both,” Robb said as he clapped him on the shoulder.

They walked in silence for a while inspecting the the barracks and soldiers.

“You agreed with Sansa about sparing the maid?” Robb asked.

Jon gave him a dark look.

“I thought not,” Robb said as he let out a breath. “Then why...?”

“It appears as though she’s just come back to herself,” Jon said as he looked around for others who may be listening. “I didn’t want to lose her again.”

Robb nodded knowingly.

“You can always have her killed later,” Robb said as they stopped and looked out over the massive army that was assembled as far as the eye could see.

“I would not break my promise,” Jon said solemnly.

“You wouldn’t, would you?” Robb asked. “Are you going to be happy in King’s Landing once we win you the throne?”

“I hope so,” Jon sighed. “I’ve never been South so I’m not sure if it agrees with me.”

“I haven’t been since I was a boy,” Robb said as he watched his brother carefully. “It’s...different.”

“Different how?”

“Warmer, for one. And more political,” Robb said.

“The North is very political,” Jon reminded him.

“Yes, but in the North we settle our differences with plain words,” Robb explained. “There, in King’s Landing, it’s all about what you don’t say as much as what you do.”

Jon grunted in acknowledgement and they looked Southward.

“Sansa will like it,” Robb nodded. “She will help you find your way.”

“I hope so,” Jon sighed, worried still about his wife.

“You’ll have more children, when the time comes,” Robb said as he leaned his shoulder into Jon’s. “But it doesn’t make what happened right, in any way.”

Jon nodded and said nothing. He had buried his emotions about his son deep inside and he wasn’t going to allow them to surface until he was with Sansa again.

“I hope she wants more children, after this,” Jon said plainly.

“I’m sure she...”

His response was cut short by a man on horseback galloping toward them at a fast speed. Both Jon and Robb drew their swords unsure if this was a threat or not. The horse and rider stopped a few feet from them out of breath.

“You are both needed back at once!” He yelled, obviously frightened by the two men with swords drawn.

“What has happened?” Jon demanded.

“A raven has arrived and I dare say from the looks on everyone’s faces and the orders barked it is not good news,” the page explained.

“Where was the raven from?” Jon asked as he swiftly walked toward the man and the horse.

“I think I heard Bear Island but I’m not...”

“Get down now!” Jon barked at the man as he grabbed the reigns from him.

The page did as he was told and Jon mounted the horse swiftly with Robb quickly climbing up behind him. He hurried the horse away and the page was left horse-less watching them gallop even faster than he thought possible.


	53. Chapter 53

“How?!” Jamie Lannister yelled at Ned Stark as they walked into the room. “It’s impossible! It’s...”

“What?” Robb asked as he swiftly walked to his father’s side. 

The look of panic on everyone’s faces scared him to his core.

“The wall has been breached,” Ned said simply, but Jon could hear the hitch in his throat.

“Breached?” Robb asked before Jon could even speak.

“We got ravens from Castle Black and Bear Island,” Ned said as he handed one missive to Jon and one to Robb. “We need to go North and stop the Wights.”

“These were only in tales, surely...” Robb began.

“From the words we see from Castle Black...they are not a myth,” Tyrion noted.

“What of the Wildlings?” Tyrion asked. “Are they part of this attack as well?”

“The Lord Commander said they are not,” Ned confirmed. “It seems they are not joined with the Wights.”

“Well, that’s some kind of blessing, I guess,” Jamie sighed as he too pondered the map of the North.

“We need to protect the North,” Jon said as he rolled back the missive from Catelyn Stark which probably confirmed what Castle Black had sent.

“They Watch is containing the small breach for now, but it’s only a matter of days...” Ned explained. 

“What of Bear Island?” Robb asked Jon.

“A steward rode to them and the Hearth from Castle Black to warn them,” Jon explained. “All the the Mormonts are taking protective measures.”

“Smart to keep her on Bear Island,” Tyrion noted. “That was where I hoped she was.”

“Aye, and if any more plots are in place for my wife, I’ll know who’s behind them now,” Jon warned both Lannister men.

“We have nothing against Sansa,” Jamie noted. “And it looks like we have bigger problems now.”

“The army needs to march North instead of South,” Ned said as he pointed to a map. “The South will have to wait on our army.”

“If these Wights are anything like they are described,” Jamie said, sadly. “There won’t be a Westeros if we don’t stop them.”

“Father...” Jon started.

Ned clapped him on the shoulder and nodded. “I’ve already sent men to Bear Island the moment we got word. She’ll be safe son.”

Jon nodded and said nothing. 

“When do we leave?” Robb asked.

“Immediately,” Ned and Jon said at once.


End file.
